XL  I  B  R.ARY 

OF   THE 

U  N  IVERSITY 
OF    ILLI  NOIS 


BSSh 


T  II  E 


HISTORY  OF  PERU, 


BY  HEiW  8.  BBEBE. 


PERU,  ILLS. 

J.   F.   IjNTnx,  PinXTKK    \M)    PriJI 

1858. 


7-3*7 


EKE  AT  A. 


On  page  7,  it  is  mentioned,  incidentally  to  the 
O  main  fact— that  II.  P.  'Wood worth  received  528 
**  votes  for  the  Legislature — that  he  was  elected. 
~  Tliis  is  an  error.  He  was  defeated,  notwithstand- 
ing the  large  and  almost  unanimous  vote  he  re- 
tvivcd  in  Peru. 

On  mature  reflection  the  writer  concludes  that 
he  will  mitigate  his  statement  concerning  the 
"  breadth  "  of  that  cake  of  ice  described  on  page, 
.'>!>.  For  "length  and  breadth"  the  reader  will 
please  substitute  "extent" — this  is  positively  all 
the  abatement  that  can  be  made. 

On  line  5,  page  04,  the  word  "upon"  and  on 
^  line  17,  page  77,  the  word,  "but"  have  intruded 
/otJiernselves  very  mysteriously.  Please  to  consid- 
Jj  <;r  them  as  omitted. 

\  With    these   emendations  he  commits  his  firist- 

j  born  to  the  waters  of  public  approval  or  condem- 
""  nation,  begging  for   it  all  the  indulgence  which 
-    X  conscious  incapacity  can  justly  claim. 

^  *  *  » 

0)  4 

™<Q  r~) 

£ 


INTRODUCTORY. 


IT  can  hardly  be  said  that  a  towg:  of  a  popula- 
tion of  three  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-two 
souls,  dating  back  but  about  twenty  years  to  its 
first  rude  tenement  and  solitary  family,  can  have 
any  history.  The  events  of  any  public  interest 
are  so  few,  and  their  importance  so  small,  that  no 
reasonable  hope  can  be  entertained  that  their  re- 
cital will  be  any  thing  but  a  matter  of  indiffei> 
ance  to  others  than  the  present  or  former  resi- 
dents, or  those  connected  with  them  by  ties  of 
consanguinity,  or  having  an  interest  in  its  advance- 
ment and  prosperity.  It  is  true  that  at  some  future 
time,  the  record  may  be  useful  to  the  historian, 
if  it  should  be  so  fortunate  as  to  survive.  The 
statistics  have  been  collected  with  care  and  con- 
siderable labor,  and  are  believed  to  be  correct  and 
reliable.  Beyond  this  the  writer  claims  no  merit 
for  the  work.  The  anecdotes  and  events  related' 


mot  strictly  statistical,  have  all  transpired  under 
his  personal  observation  and  knowledge,  during 
a  residence  dating  back  to  the  embryo  town. 

Most  persons  who  have  had  the  temerity  to  un- 
dertake the  relation  of  cotemporary  events,  and  to 
speak  of  cotemporary  actors,  have  received  more 
kicks  than  coppers  for  their  pains.  How  far  the 
writer  will  escape  their  general  fate  remains  to  be 
seen.  Knowing  the  dangerous  ground  whereon 
he  was  treading,  he  has  endeavored  to  confine 
himself  to  the  simple  relation  of  undisputed  facts, 
abstaining  from  all  comments  and  speculation 
thereon.  He  has  not  set  himself  up  as  a  public 
censor  or  a  public  eulogist.  It  is  not  to  be  sup- 
posed that  he  has  been  without  partisan  and  pre- 
judiced views  of  public  questions.  These  he  has 
endeavored  to  suppress  and  to  "  render  unto  Cse- 
sar  the  things  which  are  Caesars. "  NOT  has  he 
undertaken  to  draw  a  rose  colored  picture  for  the 
benefit  of  Eastern  Capitalists,  or  those  seeking  a 
home  in  the  west — to  throw  bait  to  Gudgeons. — 
In  fact,  it  will  be  admitted,  that  his  picture  is  of 
the  soberest  and  dullest  kind  of  grey.  Would 
that  it  could  be  here  and  there  touched  with  light- 
er and  more  cheerful  hues;  but  truth  i»  mex- 


orable,  and  demands  the  strictest  loyalty  from 
those  who  worship  at  her  shrine. 

The  people  of  Peru  may  be  a  little  curious  to 
know  why  a  person,  whose  pursuits  in  life  have 
been  hitherto  very  far  removed  from  those  of  a 
writer  for  the  public  eye,  should  have  undertaken 
a  task  for  which  previous  practice  and  experience 
have  so  little  qualified  him.  He  begs  to  assure 
them  that  it  was  entirely  an  accident — no  litera- 
ry ambition  prompted  him  at  all.  To  be  sure  he 
had  heard  that 

"'Tis  pleasant  sure  to  see  one's  name  in  print, 
And  a  book's  a  book  although  there's  nothing 

in't, " 

but  that  was  not  it.  Having  a  little  leisure,  he 
had  undertaken  to  gather  and  condense  some  sta- 
tistics of  the  town  for  the  publisher  of  a  Directo- 
ry of  La  Salle  County.  Having  commenced  the 
task  he  became  interested  therein,  and  extended 
his  researches  and  remarks  to  a  length  quite  too 
formidable  for  their  original  purpose.  But  he  re- 
solved not  to  hide  his  light  under  a  bushel — hence 
the  present  infliction  which  he  hopes  will  be  borne 
with  commendable  fortitude. 


HISTORY  OF  PERU, 

CHAPTEE  I. 

Situation  of  the  City — Its  early  Settlement  and 
Settlers — Passage  of  the  Internal  Improve- 
ment Act  and  Commencement  of  work  on 
the  Central  Kail  Road— Election  of  H.  P.  Wood- 
worth  to  the  Legislature — Election  for  Organi- 
zation under  the  Borough  Act — First  Census — 
First  Election  of  Trustees — First  Religious 
Meeting. 

THE  City  of  Peru  is  situated  in  the  "Westerly 
part  of  La  Salle  County,  Illinois,  on  the  North- 
ern bank  of  the  Illinois  River,  at  the  head  of 
Navigation,  and  at  the  Junction  of  the  Illinois 
and  Michigan  Canal.  Distance  from  Chicago  100 
miles,  and  from  Saint  Louis  230.  The  territory 
embraced  within  the  corporated  limits,  is  Sec.  16 
and  17,  and  all  those  fractional  parts  of  20  and  21, 
which  lie  north  of  the  river,  Town  33,  Range  1, 


THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU.  5 

East  of  the  Third  Principal  Meridian,  comprising 
an  area  of  1462  Acres. 

The  settlement  of- the  site  occupied  by  this 
City  was  commenced  in  the  Spring  of  1 836,  short- 
ly after  the  passage  of  the  act  incorporating  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  Central,  which  was  to 
terminate  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Ver- 
million,  on  land  owned  by  the  State.  It  was 
probably  the  most  eligible  site  on  lands  owned 
by  individuals.  The  Southwest  quarter  of  Sec. 
16  was  laid  out  and  sold  by  the  School  Commis- 
sioners in  1834,  and  called  Peru.  Mnawa  Addi- 
tion, -located  on  the  South  East  quarter  of  Sec. 
17,  and  the  North  East  fractional  part  of  20,  up- 
on which -the  most  business  part  of  Peru  is  at 
present  situated,  was  owned  originally  by  Lyman 
D.  Brewster,  who  died  in  the  fall  of  1835.  It 
was  plated  and  recorded  in  1836,  by  Theron  D. 
Brewster,  at  present  a  leading  and  influential 
citizen. 

In  1835  the  only  residents  of  that  portion  of 
territory  now  occupied  by  the  cities  of  Peru 
and  La  Salle  were  Lyman  D.  Brewster,  his 
nephew  T.  D.  BKEWSTER,  JOHN  HAYS  and  fami- 
ly, PELTIAH  and  CALVIN  BREWSTER,  SAMUEL  LAP, 


6  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

SLEY  and  BURTON  AYRES.  In  the  Spring  of  1835, 
the  first  building — a  store — was  erected  in  Peru 
by  ULYSES  SPAULDING  and  H.  L.  KINNEY,  late  of 
Central  American  notoriety.  On  the  4th  July  1836, 
the  first  shovel  full  of  earth  was  excavated  upon 
the  Canal.  No  considerable  population  was  at- 
tracted to  the  town  until  1837.  Among  the  peo- 
ple who  made  this  place  their  home  in  that  and 
the  following  years,  were  WM.  RICHARDSON,  J.  P. 
JUDSON,  S.  LISLE  SMITH  and  his  brother  DOCTOR 
SMITH,  FLETCHER  WEBSTER,  DANIEL  TOWNSEND, 
P.  HALL,  JAMES  MULFORD,  J  AMES  ^  MYERS,  WM. 
and  CHAS.  DRESSER,  HARVEY  WOOD,  N".  B.  BUL- 
LOCK, JESSE  Puo SLEY,  EZRA  McKiNziE,  NATHAN- 
IEL  and  ISAAC  ABRAHAM,  J.  P.  THOMPSON,  JOHN 
HOFFMAN,  C.  H.  CHARLES,  ASA  MANN,  Lucius 
RUMRILL,  CORNELIUS  CAHILL,  CORNELIUS  COKELEY, 
DAVID  DANA,  ZIMRI  LEWIS,  DANIEL  McGiN,  fS. 
W.  RAYMOND,  GEO.  B.  MARTIN,  WM.  H.  DAVIS, 
GEO.  W.  HOLLEY,  GEO.  Low,  M.  MOTT,  F.  LE- 
BEAU,  A.  HYATT,  WARD  B.  BURNETT,  O.  C. 
MOTLEY,  WM.  PAUL,  H.  P.  WOODWORTH,  H.  S. 
BEEBE,  HARVEY  LEONARD,  &c. 

At  the  Session  of  the  Legislature  of  1836,  the 
Internal  Improvement  act  was  passed,  incorpor- 


THE  HISTORY   OF   PERU.  7 

;ating  the  Central  Rail  Road,  which  was  subse- 
quently located  upon  the  same  general  route  as 
is  followed  by  the  present  Illinois  Central  Rail 
Road,  crossing  the  river  at  Peru.  Operations 
were  commenced  on  both  sides  of  the  river  in 
1838.  During  this  season  very  extensive  im- 
provements were  made,  large  accessions  of  pop- 
ulation took  place,  and  the  settlement  began  to 
assume  the  appearance  of  a  town.  In  1839  the 
whole  country  was  on  the  top  wave  of  prosperity. 
Large  forces  were  employed  upon  both  the  Canal 
and  Rail  Road — numerous  other  works  being  con- 
templated, all  terminating  at  Peru,  of  course — 
and  the  disbursements  were  large.  The  town 
shared  the  general  prosperity.  In  this  year  H. 
P.  WOODWOTH  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  from 
La  Salle  County,  which  then  embraced  the  pres- 
ent territory  of  Kendall  and  Grundy,  receiving 
in  Peru  528  votes,  being  the  largest  vote  ever 
polled  in  the  precinct,  before  or  since. 

On  the  6th  of  December  1838  the  inhabitants 
assembled  at  the  tavern  of  ZIMRI  LEWIS,  and  or- 
ganised a  meeting  by  the  appointment  of  H.  S. 
BEEBE,  Chairman,  and  J.  B.  JUDSON,  Secretary, 
and  voted  to  take  the  preliminary  steps  for  organ 


8  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

izing  the  town  as  a  borough  under  the  general 
Incorporation  Act.  At  a  census  taken  the  same 
month  there  were  found  to  be  within  the  limits 
proposed  to  be  embraced  in  the  Borough,  to-wit : 
The  South  half  of  Section  16,  the  South  East 
quarter  of  Section  IT,  and  all  that  part  of  Sec- 
tion 20  lying  North  of  the  river — about  one 
square  mile. 

Males  over  21  years  of  age  175 

Females  and  minors  251 

Total  426 

On  the  15th  of  December  an  election  was  held  to 
decide  upon  such  organization  with  the  following 
result. 

For  organization  40 

Against  organization  1 

On  the  same  day  an  election  was  held  for  Trus- 
tees which  resulted  in  the  election  of  M.  Mott, 
F.  Lebeau,  0.  H.  Charles,  Z.  LEWIS  and  O.  C. 
Mottley.  The  Board  elected  Z.  Lewis,  President; 
T.  D.  Brewster,  Clerk;  Z.  Lewis,  jr.  Constable ; 
and  James  Myers,  Assessor.  On  the  1st  of  April 
1839,  O.  C.  Motley  resigned  and  II.  P.  Wood- 
worth  was  elected  in  his  place.  D.  J.  Townsend 


THE   HISTORY    Otf   PERU.  9 

was  afterwards  appointed  Street  Commissioner. 

The  first  religious  meeting  assembled  in  the 
locality  was  held  in  the  early  part  of  this  year, 
in  a  log  shanty,  in  the  western  part  of  the  town. 
This  meeting  was  attended  by  about  a  dozen 
young  reprobates  who  concerted,  that  if  the  preach- 
er should  confine  himself  to  what  they  should 
judge  to  be  the  "  appropriate  sphere  of  his  du- 
ties, "  should  preach  piety  and  righteousness  in 
the  abstract  without  making  any  particular  ap- 
plication thereof,  or  rebuking  any  particular  prac- 
tice cherished  by  these  self  constituted  censors, 
and  should  abstain  from  all  offensive  personal 
or  local  allusions,  the  most  decorous  propriety 
was  to  be  observed.  But  if,  on  the  contrary,  he 
should  see  fit  to  indulge  in  any  reproof  of  evil 
practices  which  they  were  conscious  the  commu- 
nity had  credit  for,  whether  justly  or  not,  the  in- 
dignity was  to  be  instantly  resented.  In  pur- 
suance of  this  concert  they  repaired  to  the  place 
of  worship,  each  provided  with  a  tobacco  pipe 
well  filled,  and  a  match.  During  the  preliminary 
exercises  and  a  portion  of  the  sermon  the  most 
respectful  attention  and  devout  bearing  were 
manifested ;  but  when  the  preacher  unfortunately 


10  THE   HISTORY    OF   PEEU. 

indulged  in  illusions,  believed  by  these  cen- 
sors to  be  intended  to  have  a  direct  local  ap- 
plication, a  rap  on  the  bench  was  made  as  a  sig- 
nal by  the  leader,  and  instantly  twelve  matches 
were  struck  and  twelve  pipes  lighted.  No  smile 
was  seen  and  no  word  was  spoken ;  but  twelve 
sedate  and  imperturbable  smokers  tugged  vigoro  vis- 
ly  at  their  pipes.  The  room  was  soon  filled  with 
the  smoke  and  aroma ;  and  after  a  few  attempts 
at  rebuke,  ejaculated  between  stifled  spasms  of 
coughing,  the  preacher  incontinently  left;  but 
not  without  making  a  stand  at  the  door,  where  a 
few  comparatively  pure  respirations  were  obtain- 
ed, and  hurling  back  some  rather  unchristian 
anathemas  upon  the  graceless  and  sacreligious 
scamps,  whose  scandalous  conduct  had  so  uncere- 
moniously put  him  to  flight,  and  upon  the  peo- 
ple by  whom  they  were  tolerated.  Of  course, 
"  the  better  part  of  community  "  set  the  seal  of 
their  disapprobation  upon  such  disreputable  and 
disorderly  proceedings. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Election  in  1839 — Financial  Crash — Condition  of 
the  Town — Anecdote  illustrative  of  the  scarci- 
ty ol  money — Hog  Story — Establishment  of 
the  Mnawa  Gazette — Building  of  the  first 
Church. 

At  an  election  held  on  the  19th  December  1839 
H.  P.  Woodworth,  Simon  Kinney,  Z.  Burnham, 
C.  H.  Charles,  and  Isaac  Abraham  were  elected 
Trustees.  Whole  number  of  votes  polled  40. 

The  Board  elected  Simon  Kinney,  President; 
M.  Mott,  Collector;  T.  D.  Brewster,  Treasurer; 
and  Walter  Meriman  Clerk.  In  the  course  of  the 
year  Kinney  resigned  as  Trustee  and  Meriman  as 
Clerk,  and  Cornelius  Cahill  and  James  Bradford 
were  elected  to  fill  their  respective  places.  The 
places  of  Burnham  and  Charles  became  vacant  by 
death,  and  Ezra  McKinzie  and  Churchill  Coffing 
were  elected  to  fill  them.  In  1840  came  the  grand 
financial  collapse.  The  foreign  capitalists  refused 


1  THE    HISTOEY   OF   PEBV. 

to  lend  us  any  more  money.  The  later  residents 
of  Illinois  can  scarcely  comprehend  the  condition 
of  things  which  preceded  and  ensued.  By  the 
Internal  Improvement  Act,  which  puts  all  Con- 
gressional omnibus  bills  entirely  into  the  shade,  a 
system  of  Kail  Roads  was  to  be  commenced  sim- 
ultaneously in  all  parts  of  the  State,  running  in 
all  manner  of  directions,  through  regions  scarcely 
explored ;  and  counties  which  were  not  fortunate 
enough  to  lie  in  the  direction  of  any  place,  and 
thus  not  to  be  traversed  by  Rail  Roads,  were 
bribed  into  the  support  of  the  bill  by  distributions 
of  money ^all  to  be  borrowed  on  the  faith  of  the 
State.  Other  acts  were  passed  authorizing  loans 
for  prisons,  hospitals,  assylams  and  State  Houses. 
At  the  same  time  the  Canal  was  being  prosecuted 
on  State  credit.  Counties  followed  the  example 
of  the  State  by  borrowing  money  to  build  Court 
Houses,  Jails  &c.  But  at  length  the  bottom  fell 
out  of  the  whole  concern.  Unknown  Millions 
had  been  squandered  and  not  one  public  under- 
taking was  completed.  Public  and  private  credit 
were  annihilated.  Northern  Illinois  produced 
nothing  for  exportation,  and  every  kind  of  busi- 
ness was  dependent  upon  the  disbursements 


THE   HISTORY    OF    FE£U.  IB 

'onthe  public  works.  The  State,  Counties,  Towns, 
Banks,  corporations  and  individuals  were  alike 
bankrupt.  No  gleam  of  light  shone  in  the  future. 
Repudiation,  public  and  private,  appeared  to  be 
the  only  alternative.  Even  the  vampires  who 
had  been  gorged  upon  the  treasury  were  over- 
whelmed in  the  general  avalanche.  The  few  who 
had  hoarded  and  possessed  the  means,  left  the 
State ;  and  emigration  for  years  avoided  it  as 
though  it  had  been  one  great  hospitalof  lepers. 

No  place  experienced  the  general  prostration 
more  sensibly  than  Peru.  The  writer  of  this 
with  a  family  to  support,  did  not  possess  in  the 
year  1841  in  the  aggregate,  a  sum  of  money 
equal  to  five  dollars.  Letters  lay  in  the  Post  Of- 
fice from  the  inability  of  those  to  whom  they 
were  addressed  to  pay  the  postage.  Nor  was 
this  embarrassment  confined  to  individuals. — 
Gov.  Ford  once  told  the  writer,  that  he  had  been 
compelled  to  allow  letters,  directed  to  him  upon 
official  business,  to  remain  in  the  Federal  Post 
Office,  his  own  means  or  credit,  or  that  of  the 
Sovereign  State  of  Illinois  being  insufficient  to 
raise  the  embargo.  Property  of  no  kind  had  any 
apparent  value  whatever.  The  town  gradually 


14:  THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU. 

lost  its  inhabitants,  until  in  1842,  probably  not 
over  two  hundred  souls  remained.  These  were 
mainly  the. less  fortunate  portion  who  could  not 
get  away.  One  Store,  a  Drug  Shop,  the  Post 
Office,  and  two  Taverns  were  the  only  places  that 
remained  open  to  the  public.  Society  existed 
upon  a  truly  republican  basis.  No  envy  was 
excited  in  the  breasts  of  the  humble  and  poor  by 
the  brilliant  equipages  and  establishments  of 
the  rich.  The  creditor  who  would  have  seriously 
asked  payment  of  his  debtor  would  have  been 
saluted  with  one  universal  shout  of  derision. — 
As  well  might  he  have  asked  the  sea  to  give  up 
its  dead.  His  money  was  gone  to  that  bourne 
whence  "nary  red"  would  ever  return.  It  was  se- 
riously proposed  to  enact  a  law  making  every 
man's  note  a  tender  for  debts — always  excepting 
the  notes  of  the  creditor  himself.  This  condition 
of  things  produced  a  state  of  society  never  wit- 
nessed by  the  writer,  before  or  since.  The  pre- 
vailing influence  was  so  universal  and  complete 
as  to  reduce  all  to  a  common  level.  A  sympathy 
and  community  of  feeling  pervaded  all  Illinois 
humanity.  Thanks  to  a  prolific  «oil  and  sparse 
population,  nobody  was  in  danger  of  starvation. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU.  15 

The  following  incident  illustrates  the  scarcity 
and  value  of  money  about  this  time.  The  only 
merchants  who  pretended  to  keep  their  stores 
open  for  business,  and  were  able  to  replenish  their 
stock,  were  the  brothers  A.  one  of  them  at  present 
an  estimable  and  valued  citizen,  and  the  other  a 
worthy  farmer  living  in  the  neighborhood.  Mon- 
ey was  scarce  wherewith  to  pay  freights,  and  the 
only  resource  was  to  transport  wheat,  taken  of 
the  farmers  for  debts,  to  Chicago,  a  distance  of 
one  hundred  miles,  where  it  was  worth  about  fifty 
cents  per  bushel.  One  of  the  persons  employed; 
in  the  transportation  was  a  farmer  named  M. — 
One  of  the  brothers  and  the  writer  accompanied 
the  teams.  After  the  wheat  had  been  marketed, 
and  unloaded,  M.  with  a  very  grave  and  serious 
face,  desired  a  private  conference  with  A.  Ta- 
king him  a  little  apart  from  the  writer,  and  speak- 
ing in  a  voice  loud  enough  to  be  distinctly  over-, 
heard,  he  informed  him  that  he  was  under  the 
necessity  of  asking  him  for  some  money.  A. 
started  as  if  a  snake  had  stung  him.  He  express- 
ed surprise  at  such  a  sudden  call,  under  the  circum- 
stances, and  reminded  M.  of  the  exertions  and 
sacrifices  which  he  had  been  compelled  to  make 


16  THE   HISTORY   OF   PERtT. 

to  raise  money  for  charges,  and  that  withal  he 
had  but  barely  enough  for  that  purpose ;  and 
concluded  by  hoping  that  his  demands  would  be 
extremely  limited.  M.  replied  that  they  would 
be  no  more  extensive  than  his  necessities  abso- 
lutely required,  and  he  thought  about  "  two  bits 
would  do  him.  "  This  announcement  greatly  re- 
lieved A.  who  immediately  responded  to  the  de- 
mand. When  it  is  understood,  that  the  almost 
universal  practice  in  traveling,  at  that  time,  was 
to  "  camp  out, "  the  commissary  department 
drawing  its  supplies  from  the  domestic  larder  and 
corn  crib,  it  will  be  perceived  that  "  two  bits  " 
would  go  a  good  way  in  ekeing  out  the  stores  and 
supplying  any  deficiency. 

Another  incident  occurred  about  this  time 
which  also  illustrates,  in  some  degree,  the  spirit 
of  the  times.  Two  citizens  who  shall  be  named 
B.  and  M.  had  been  in  the  habit  of  bantering 
each  other  about  their  poverty.  M.  persisted  in 
assuming  that  he  was  not  as  poor  as  B.,  and  that 
it  was  all  owing  to  his  superior  address  and  finan- 
cial ability.  This  ridiculous  assumption  may  be 
understood,  when  it  is  stated  that  neither  party 
could,  from  every  available  resource,  have  raised 


THE   HISTORY    OP   PERU.  17 

a  sum  in  money  equal  to  the  present  price  of  a 
barrel  of  flour.  M.  complained  to  B.  about  his 
hogs  running  at  large,  and  threatened  that  if  they 
were  permitted  to  annoy  him  he  would  shut 
them  up  and  kill  them.  It  so  happened  that  B. 
did  not  own  a  hog  in  the  world — a  fact  which  he 
was  careful  not  to  disclose.  M.  commenced  to 
put  his  threat  in  execution  by  building  an  en- 
closure in  which  he  incarcerated  all  vagrant  hogs, 
and  proceeded  to  put  them  in  a  condition  for 
slaughtering  by  a  liberal  appliance  of  corn  and 
swill.  These  things  did  not  escape  the  observa- 
tion of  B.  who  waited  patiently  until  the  hogs 
were  in  a  nice  condition,  when  he  called  upon  M. 
and  rather  angrily  remonstrated  with  him  upon 
committing  so  unneighborly  an  act  as  to  secrete 
his  hogs,  alleging  that  he  had  searched  dilligent- 
ly  for  them,  and  that  great  apprehensions  had 
existed,  lest  his  family  might  seriously  siiifer  for 
the  want  thereof.  He  reminded  him  of  the  cor- 
diality and  good  feeling  which  had  previously 
existed  between  them,  of  their  good  natured  jokes 
and  banters,  and  of  the  general  felicity  which 
they  had  enjoyed  in  each  others  society ;  and 
read  him  a  homily  upon  the  advantages  to  be  de- 


JL8  THE   HISTORY   OF   PBBTJ. 

rived  from  the  practice  of  honesty  and  integrity. 
He  insisted,  however,  upon  the  unconditional  lib- 
eration of  four  particularly  promising  specimens 
of  the  genus,  porker.  To  this  M.  demurred. — 
While  he  admitted  that  what  B.  had  taken  so 
much  pains  to  remind  him  of,  was  in  the  main 
true,  he  urged  that  the  corn  wherewith  he  had 
fed  the  hogs  was  difficult  to  be  obtained,  that  he 
had  spent  much  time  in  feeding  and  taking  care 
of  them,  and  that  it  was  not  right  for  one  man  to 
take  advantage  of  anothers'  wrong  act  for  his 
own|benefit.  These  arguments  somewhat  molli- 
fied B.  who  finally  agreed  to  a  compromise  by 
which  M.  was  to  continue  feeding  the  hogs  for  a 
specified  time,  and  then  kill  and  dress  them,  and 
bring  the  carcasses  of  the  two  best  to  the  house 
of  B.  This  compact  was  carried  into  effect  in 
good  faith.  Shortly  afterwards  B.  disclosed  the 
history  of  this  little  operation  which  came  to  the 
ears  of  M.  It  is  confidently  believed  that  he 
never  afterwards  boasted  of  his  peculiar  gifts  of 
finesse.  It  is  but  fair  to  say,  that  the  real  owner 
of  the  hogs  who  had  no  share  in  the  spoils,  pock- 
eted his  loss  with  admirable  grace. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1839   the  first  news- 


THB   HISTORY   OF   PBKU.  19 

paper  published  in  Peru,  was  established  by 
Ford,  now  Editor  and  proprietor  of  the  "  Lacon 
Gazette"  in  connection  with  Geo.  "W.  Holley 
who  acted  as  editor,  and  was  called  the  "  Ninawa 
Gazette. "  Mr.  Holley  was  a  gentleman  of  con- 
siderable literary  reputation  and  made  a  paper 
which  was  eagerly  sought  for.  His  writings  were 
principally  distinguished  for  their  peculiar  vein 
of  humor  and  pleasantry.  The  paper  was  con- 
tinued until  1841,  when  the  press  and  materials 
were  removed  to  Lacon. 

The  first  Church  built  in  the  town,  was  erect- 
ed by  the  Methodist's  m  the  fall  of  1838. 


CHAPTEK  III. 

Election  in  1840 — Tho  Bangs  Enterprise — Erec- 
tion of  the  Stone  Church — Donation  of  the 
Bell — Visit  of  Messrs.  Yan  Buren  and  Paul- 
ding. 

AT  an  election  held  on  the  18th  December  1840, 
H.  P.  Woodworth,  Churchill  Coffing,  Ezra  Mc- 
Kinzie,  Isaac  Abraham  and  Geo.  Low  were  elec- 
ted Trustees.  "Whole  number  of  votes  polled  32. 
This  Board  elected  Isaac  Abraham  their  Presi- 
dent ;  James  Bradford  Clerk  ;  James  Myers,  As- 
sessor; F.  Lebeau  Constable,  T.D.Brewster  Treas- 
urer; and  M.  Mott  Street  Commissioner.  Subse- 
quently F.  Mills  was  elected  Constable  in  place 
of  Lebeau  who  resigned,  and  John  Hoffman.  Fire 
Warden. 

On  the  27th  February  1841  an  act  passed  the 
Legislature  chartering  the  La  Salle  and  Dixon 
Bail  Road,  giving  to  the  Corporation  created,  the 
right  of  way  and  materials  belonging  to  that  part 
of  the  old  Central  Kail  Road  lying  between  the 


THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU.  21 

two  points  named.  During  the  year  operations 
were  recommenced  on  this  work,  and  a  Bank  of 
issue,  pretended  to  be  authorized  by  the  Charter, 
was  opened  in  La  Salle.  These  operations  for  a 
short  time  galvanized  into  life  the  prostrated  ener- 
gies of  the  remaining  inhabitants  of  Peru,  but 
were  shortly  succeeded  by  the  bursting  of  the 
whole  concern.  The  leading  spirit  of  this  move- 
ment was  a  man  named  A.  H.  Bangs,  who  suc- 
ceeded in  making  dupes  or  accomplices  of  several 
leading  and  influential  inhabitants  of  La  Salle  and 
Lee  Counties.  After  the  explosion  it  was  found 
that  he  was  a  mere  adventurer,  without  character, 
reputation,  capital  or  credit.  Not  an  hundred 
dollars  in  cash  or  a  dollar  of  good  and  reliable  pa- 
per had  been  used  in  starting  and  continuing  the 
construction  of  forty  miles  of  Rail  Koad,  and 
putting  into  operation  a  Bank  which  soon  flooded 
the  whole  country  with  its  worthless  promises  to 
pay,  and  draw  liberally  upon  its  imaginary  eas- 
tern and  foreign  correspondents.  The  contrac- 
tors were,  of  course,  unable  to  pay  the  laborers, 
and  the  farmers  who  had  supplied  them  with  pro- 
visions. The  former,  enraged  by  their  wrongs, 
attempted  to  wreak  their  vengeance  upon  the  per- 


22  THE   HISTORY   Otf   PBBtT. 

son  of  the  culprit,  Bangs.  They  seized  and  drag 
ged  him  through  the  muddy  streets  of  the  town 
He  was  finally  rescued  by  the  citizens,  partly 
through  menaces  and  partly  through  intercession, 
without  material  injury,  placed  in  a  skiff,  and  sent 
down  the  river.  Had  he  possessed  one  thousand 
dollars  in  real  cash,  there  is  not  a  doubt  but  that  he 
would  have  been  able  to  finish  and  put  in  opera- 
tion the  road,  and  to  have  gone  on  swimingly  with 
his  Bank  for  years  ;  such  was  the  confidence,  and 
it  might  be  added,  reverence,  which  a  real  "  cap- 
italist "  would  at  that  time  have  inspired.  The 
relapse  was,  if  possible,  more  depressing  than  the 
former  experience. 

During  this  year  the  second  Church — a  small 
but  substantial  stone  edifice,  at  present  occupied 
by  the  Episcopal  Society — was  erected  by  the 
liberality  of  T.  D.  Brewster,  Esq.,  for  the  Con- 
gregationalist  Society.  For  the  use  of  the  Soci- 
ety worshiping  in  this  building,  a  valuable  bell 
was  donated  by  the  late  John  C.  Coning  of  Salis- 
bury, Connecticut,  father  of  our  distinguished 
townsman,  Hon.  Churchill  Coffing. 

In  the  summer  Mr.  Van  Buren,  then  lately 
retired  from  the  Presidency,  accompanied  by 


THB   HISTORY   OF   PERU.  23 

James  K.  Paulding  then  late  Secretary  of  the 
Kavy,  made  a  tour  through  the  western  States, 
and  was  everywhere  received  with  an  ovation. — 
A  Committee  was  appointed  in  Peru  to  receive 
and  escort  them  to  Ottawa.  There  was  then  re- 
siding here  a  young  man,  a  carpenter  by  trade  and 
a  great  wag,  rejoicing  in  the  name  America  Jones, 
There  also  lived  here  a  "Doctor"  Harrison, 
more  famous  for  his  effrontery  and  obtrusive  decla- 
mation than  for  his  medical  learning  or  skill.  He 
came  armed  with  a  diploma  or  certificate  from  the 
Berrien  County,  Michigan,  Medical  Society,  signed 
"  E.  Winslow,  President. "  His  attainments  and 
accomplishments  were  by  no  means  confined  to 
the  healing  and  dissecting  art,  according  to  his 
own  persistent  declaration.  They  embraced  the 
grand  encyclopedia  of  science.  He  was  a  pugi- 
list, and  boasted  of  many  a  hard  earned  field ;  he 
was  an  advocate  of  the  dueling  code,  and  under- 
stood precisely  the  etiquette  of  the  field  of  Hon- 
or, and  was  ready,  should  anybody  knock  a  chip 
from  his  shoulder,  to  put  in  practice  the  theory 
which  he  so  eloquently  expounded,  although  it  is 
believed  that  he  never  absolutely  asserted  that  his 
chivalry  had  been  put  to  the  test ;  he  was  a  musi- 


24  THE    HISTORY   OF    PERtT. 

cian  and  an  expert  at  games,  particularly  "  seven 
tip  "  and  "  poker ;"  and  he  was  a  military  gentle- 
man. >  He  has  since  attained  the  rank  of  Major 
General,  in  the  service  of  the  State  of  Michigan. 
"With  this  brilliant  array  of  accomplishments  he 
naturally  attracted  the  attention  of  the  communi- 
ty, and  what  was  more  to  the  purpose,  obtained  a 
very  lucrative  practice.  He  numbered  among  his 
admirers  people  in  all  grades  of  society.  Most 
zealous  among  these  was  a  gentleman — an  emi- 
nent civil  engineer — of  a  high  professional  and 
social  position.  America  Jones,  above  mentioned, 
concocted  a  scheme  very  well  calculated  to  cure 
him  of  his  extraordinary  devotion  to  the  Doctor, 
and  confidence  in  his  professions;  and  at  the 
same  time  to  indulge  his  own  innate  propensity 
for  fun,  at  the  expense  of  the  engineer  and  anoth- 
er prominent  citizen — a  lawyer — at  present  resi- 
dent. Jones  became  suddenly  very  efficient  and 
"  numerous  "  at  a  meeting  called  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  reception  of  the  distinguished  visi- 
tors, although  it  was  probably  the  first  time  in 
his  life  that  he  had  ever  seriously  taken  part  in 
any  thing  of  the  kind,  being  generally  content  to 
look  on  and  distort  the  action  of  others  into  some 


THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU.  25 

ludicrous  phase.  Now  Jones  had  a  very  clear 
perception  of  the  Doctor's  real  merit.  He  un- 
derstood instinctively  the  difference  between 
that  and  his  bombastic  pretensions.  He  knew, 
too,  that  his  vanity  and  egotism  were  only  to  be 
adroitly  excited,  and  he  would  throw  himself  in 
a  general  and  continued  splurge,  in  any  presence. 
So  he  obtained  a  place  for  himself  and  the  Doctor 
on  the  committee  of  reception,  escort  and  ar- 
rangements. On  the  trip  to  Ottawa,  he  contrived 
to  occupy  a  carriage  in  company  with  the  Doctor, 
the  two  guests,  and  the  two  citizens  above  refer- 
red to.  Once  on  the  road,  Jones  found  means  to 
gradually  launch  the  Doctor  into  the  field  of  gen- 
eral declamation.  The  latter  described  the  scene- 
ry in  terms  of  poetic  eulogy ;  he  exhibited  his 
erudition  in  the  early  history  of  the  country ;  he 
analyzed,  in  the  most  scientific  manner,  the  waters 
of  the  "  Sulphur  Springs,  "  and  branched  off  into 
the  abstract  laws  of  chemistry  generally ;  he  ex- 
temporised an  essay  upon  political  economy; 
he  discussed  the  character  of  distinguished  co- 
temporary  politicians  and  statesmen ;  he  repeated 
all  the  stale  newspaper  anecdotes  and  scandal 
concerning  the  public  men  of  the  day  ;  he  assert- 


£6  THE    HISTORY   Otf   PERtf. 

ed  his  belief  that  somebody,  down  on  the  Mo- 
hawk or  somewhere  else,  once  wrote  a  very  fool- 
ish book,  called  the  "  Dutchman's  Fireside ; "  he 
reviewed  and|criticised  the  battles  of  the  Revo- 
lution and  the  naval  engagements  of  the  last  war 
with  England^  he  recounted  his  own  exploits 
and  prowess  in  many  a  pugilistic  encounter ;  and 
he  indulged  in  terms  of  unbounded  compliment 
to,  and  admiration  of  the  more  distinguished  por- 
tion of  his  auditory,  lamenting  that  his  father 
had  not  lived  to  learn  the  transcendant  honor 
which  had  befallen  his  son,  in  actually  riding  in 
the  same  carriage  with  such  illustrious  personages. 
These  efforts  occupied  nearly  the  entire  journey 
to  Ottawa,  to  the  unutterable  chagrin  and  annoy- 
ance of  the  two  citizens,  and  the  infinite  delight 
and  amusement  of  Jones.  How  Messrs.  VAN 
BUREN  and  PATTLDING  enjoyed  the  society  of  the 
committee  is  not  known. 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

Elections  in  1841 — Elections  in  1842 — Resump- 
tion of  work  on  the  Canal — Improvement  in 
Business — First  arrival  of  Steamboats  in  the 
Spring. 

AT  an  election  held  on  the  llth  December 
1841,  the  same  Trustees  were  elected  who  served 
the  preceeding  year.  CHURCHILL  COFFING  was 
elected  President ;  J.  BRADFORD,  Clerk ;  T.  D. 
BREWSTER,  Treasurer  and  Collector;  H.  LEON- 
ARD, Assessor ;  F.  MILLS,  Constable ;  H.  S.  BEE- 
BE,  Street  Commissioner ;  and  J.  HOFFMAN,  Fire 
Warden. 

During  the  year  1842,  no  event  is  recollected  of 
sufficient  importance  to  justify  a  record.  The 
general  stagnation  continued.  Illinois  had  be- 
come as  stagnant  and  inactive  as  Cathay.  People 
could  not  be  said  to  live — they  merely  vegetated. 
At  an  election  held  on  the  15th  December  1842, 
CHURCHILL  COFFING,  ISAAC  ABRAHAM,  JOHN 
HOFFMAN,  T.  D.  BREWSTER,  and  H.  S.  BEEBE, 


28  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

were  elected  Trustees.  This  Board  elected  JAMES 
BRADFORD,  Clerk;  S.  "W.  RAYMOND,  Constable; 
and  T.  D.  BREWSTER,  Treasurer. 

On  the  21st  February,  1843,  "  An  Act  to  pro- 
vide for  the  completion  of  the  Illinois  and  Michi- 
gan Canal,  and  the  payment  of  the  Canal  debt " 
passed  the  Legislature.  Energetic  and  sagacious 
measures  were  at  once  devised  and  put  into  op- 
eration for  the  completion  of  that  great  work.  To 
Gov.  FORD,  SENATOR  RYAN  and  COL.  OAKLEY, 
is  due  the  credit  of  devising  the  scheme  which 
heralded  to  the  people  of  Illinois  the  return  of 
prosperity.  This  measure  was  soon  followed  by 
gradual  improvements  in  the  town.  Consider- 
able accessions  to  its  population  took  place,  ware- 
houses and  workshops  began  to  be  erected,  and 
everything  soon  assumed  the  appearance  of  thrift 
and  progress. 

During  the  season  of  stagnation,  the  daily  ar- 
rival of  steamboats  from  Saint  Louis,  the  debark- 
ation of  their  passengers,  and  their  departure  for 
Chicago,  by  Frink,  Walker  &  Go's,  coaches,  ten- 
ded more  to  enliven  the  town  than  all  other 
causes  combined.  This  route  became  a  popular 
one  for  southern  travel,  via.,  the  Lakes  to  New 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  2$ 

York,  particularly  during  the  warmer  season ; 
and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  witness  the 
departure  of  from  five  to  ten  four-horse  post  coach- 
es together.  The  first  arrival  of  a  steamboat  in 
the  Spring  was  always  hailed  as  a  great  event. 
Two  or  three  months  of  isolation  had  sharpened 
the  appetites  of  the  people  for  intercourse  with 
the  great  world.  The  first  faint  puff,  away  down 
among  the  cotton  woods,  was  caught  upon  the 
ear  of  some  anxious  and  expectant  listener,  and 
forthwith  the  news  spread  with  wonderful  celerity 
throughout  the  town.  All  the  men  and  boys 
gathered  upon  the  landing ;  all  the  women  and 
girls  upon  the  hill-tops.  When  the  boat  hove  in 
sight,  conjectures  flew  thick  and  fast  as  to  what 
boat  she  was ;  everybody  had  some  theory  found- 
ed upon  the  particular  manner  of  her  '  scape,  the 
ball  upon  her  jack-staff,  the  ornaments  upon  her 
chimneys,  or  some  other  distinguishing  mark 
which  each  prided  himself  upon  knowing  and  re- 
membering. When  she  came  within  hailing  dis- 
tance, what  a  hurrah  went  up  from  the  landing ! 
What  a  waving  of  handkerchiefs  from  the  bluffs  ! 
Then  when  her  keel  fairly  grated  upon  the  peb- 
bles of  the  bank,  and  a  plank  was  run  over  her 


30  THE   HISTORY   OF   PEEtl. 

side,  what  a  rush  over  all  her  parts !  What  a 
shaking  of  hands  all  round !  "What  congratula- 
tions and  welcomes  were  extended  to  officers  and 
crew,  from  captain  to  firemen !  These  over,  the 
truth  of  history  extorts  the  admission,  that  the 
space  around  the  bar  became  the  grand  rendez- 
vous. A  short  time  spent  in  this  neighborhood 
by  no  means  tended  to  lessen  the  general  hilarity 
and  uproar.  The  news  of  the  arrival  of  a  steam- 
boat soon  spread  throughout  the  country.  The  in- 
habitants of  the  interior,  inland  village  of  Ottawa, 
in  a  very  leisurely  and  dignified  way,  harnessed 
up  their  teams  and  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Peru, 
on  pretence  of  business,  but  in  point  of  fact  to  see 
a  real  steamboat. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Elections  in  1843 — Revenue — Efforts  for  dividing 
the  County — Elections  in  1844 — Special  Char- 
ter— Elections  in  1845 — Revenue — Return  of 
Prosperity — Elections  in  1846 — Establishment 
of  the  "  Beacon  Light " — Name  Changed  to 
"  Junction  Beacon  " — Formation  of  Hook  and 
Ladder  Company. 

AT  an  election  held  on  the  20th  of  January, 
1843,  Churchill  Coifing,  John  R.  Merritt,  Z.  Lew- 
is, Ambrose  O'Conner  and  John  Hoffman  were 
elected  Trustees.  Whole  number  of  votes  92. — 
This  Board  elected  Churchill  Coffing,  President ; 
and  T.  D.  Brewster,  Treasurer.  The  revenue 
arising  from  taxes  on  Real  Estate  was  $262. 

Peru,  from  her  earliest  history,'  had  aspired  to 
become  a  county  seat.  Situated  upon  the  extreme 
western  verge  of  the  County  of  La  Salle,  she 
comtemplated  erecting  a  new  one  out  of  territory 
to  be  taken  from  La  Salle,*  Bureau  and  Putnam. 
This  scheme  was  strenously  resisted  by  Ottawa 


32  THE    HISTORY   OF   PERU. 

and  the  eastern  portion  of  the  county.  A  cur- 
tailment on  the  north  and  east  was  cheerfully 
submitted  to,  in  order  to  assist  in  preventing  the 
loss  of  the  western  jewel.  Much  acrimony  was 
engendered  by  these  contests ;  and  all  elections 
for  county  officers  or  State  Legislature  hinged  up- 
on this  question.  The  Democratic  party  was 
largely  in  the  ascendant ;  but  the  schemes  of  the 
politicians  of  that  ilk  were  constantly  baffled  by 
the  intrusion  of  this  element.  The  completion  of 
the  Canal  and  Kail  Road,  furnishing  facilities  for 
travel  between  the  two  places,  mainly  put  a  stop 
to  further  agitation. 

At  an  election  held  on  the  25th  November, 
1844,  Churchill  Coning,  II.  Whitehead,  David 
Dana,  Win.  Paul  and  S.  W.  Raymond  were  elec- 
ted Trustees.  Whole  number  of  votes  45.  This 
Board  elected  H.  Whitehead,  President ;  H.  S. 
Beebe,  Clerk ;  J.  B.  Lovett,  Fire  Warden  ;  Isaac 
Abraham,  Treasurer;  O.  C.  Parmerly,  Street 
Commissioner;  Geo.  Low,  Collector  and  Asses- 
or;  and  E.  M.  Moore,  Constable. 

On  the  25th  February,  1845,  an  Act  passed  the 
Legislature,  extending  the  powers  of  the  Trus- 
tees, and  providing  for  their  election  in  the  foL- 


THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU.  33 

lowing  April. 

At  an  election  held  on  the  7th  April,  1845, 
Churchill  Coning,  David  Dana,  S.  W.  Raymond, 
Wm.  Paul  and  H.  Whitehead  were  elected  Trus- 
tees. Whole  number  of  votes  polled  39. 

This  Board  elected  HERMAN  WHITEHEAD,  Presi- 
dent; H.  S.  BEEBE,  Clerk;  O.  C.  PARMERLY, 
Street  Commissioner ;  ISAAC  D.  HARMON.  Trea- 
surer; GEORGE  Low,  Assessor  and  Collector; 
E.  M.  MOORE,  Constable;  and  J.  B.  LOVETT, 
Fire  Warden.  By  the  death  of  Moore,  the  office 
of  Constable  soon  became  vacant,  and  Z.  Lewis, 
junior,  was  elected  to  fill  it.  The  revenue,arising 
from  the  tax  on  Real  Estate,  was  this  year  $261,- 
86  cents. 

A  degree  of  prosperity  had  now  been  attained, 
little  dreamed  of  three  years  before.  A  large  trade 
had  gradually  grown  up  and  concentrated  in  Peru. 
It  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  wagons  loaded 
with  produce,  from,  a  distance  of  sixty,  eighty  and 
an  hundred  miles,  seeking  a  market  at  this  point, 
and  returning  loaded  with  merchandise  purchas- 
ed here.  Greneral  health,  contentment  and  pros- 
perity prevailed.  Stores  and  dwellings  continued 
to  be  built,  and  population  to  increase. 


34  THE    HISTORY   OF   PERU. 

At  an  election  held  011  the  6th  "April,  1846, 
Jacob  S.  Beach,  Churchill  Coffing,  William 
Chmnasero,  A.  M.  Thrall  and  James  Cahill  were 
elected  Trustees.  Whole  number  of  votes  96. 
This  Board  elected  Churchill  Coffing,  President ; 
H.  S.  Beebe,  Clerk ;  George  Low,  Assessor  and 
Collector ;  S.  W.  Raymond,  Street  Commission- 
er; I.  D.  Harmon,  Treasurer;  David  Perry, 
Constable ;  and  S.  N.  Maze,  Fire  Warden.  EL 
F.  Killtun  was  subsequently  elected  Street  Com- 
missioner, in  place  of  .Raymond  who  resigned. 

In  May,  another  weekly  newspaper  was  estab- 
lished by  Nash  and  Elliott,  and  called  the  "  Bea- 
con Light."  Mr.  ISTash  is  the  present  Clerk  of 
the  Circuit  Court  of  La  Salle  county.  The  name 
of  this  paper  was  changed  to  that  of  "  Junction 
Beacon."  It  continued  about  two  years  under 
the  management  of  Mead,  Higgins  and  Boyle, 
either  together  or  successively,  and  went  out. 

Oa  the  5th  December  an  ordinance  was  passed, 
authorizing  the  formation  of  a  Hook  and  Ladder 
Company,  which  was  the  first,  last  and  only  at- 
tempt to  form  a  Fire  Department.  The  principle 
effect  and  probable  design  of  this  ordinance  was 
to  exempt  the  members  enrolled,  from  the  per- 


THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU.  35 

formance  of  jury  duty.  Thirty-five  dollars  were 
appropriated  for  implements  ;  but  it  is  believed 
tliat  none  were  ever  capable  of  being  brought  in- 
to use,  in  cases  of  emergency,  although  the  town 
has  been  devastated  since,  with  many  and  serious 
fires. 


CHAPTEK  VI. 

Election  in  1847 — Cemetery  laid  out — Election 
in  1848— Completion  of  the  Canal— Effect  on 
Peru — Diversion  of  Trade  to  La  Salle — Estab- 
lishment of  the  "Peru  Telegraph" — Erection 
of  the  first  Grain  Ware  House — Great  Fresh- 
et, 

AT  an  election  held  on  the  5th  April,  1847, 
Churchill  Coffing,  Wm.  Chumasero,  Geo.  W. 
Gilson,  Joseph  P.  Turner  and  Daniel  O.  Sullivan 
were  elected  Trustees.  Whole  number  of  votes 
63.  This  Board  elected  Wm.  Chumasero,  Presi- 
dent ;  S.  W.  Raymond,  Clerk ;  James  Elliott, 
Street  Commissioner  ;  H.  S.  Beebe,  Treasurer ; 
Geo.  Low,  Assessor ;  David  Perry,  Collector ; 
Joseph  P.  Turner,  Fire  Warden ;  and  H.  W. 
Baker,  Clerk.  Soon  after,  Raymond  resigned 
and  E.  S.  Holbrook  was  elected  in  his  place. 

The  Cemetery,  one  mile  north  of  the  town, 
was  purchased  and  laid  out  by  this  Board. 

At  an  election  held   in  April,  1848,   Erasmug 


THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU.  37 

Winslow,  P.  M.  Kilduff,  I.  C.  Day,  John  Morris 
and  S.  !N".  Maze  were  elected  Trustees.  "Whole 
number  of  votes  128.  This  Board  elected  Eras- 
mus Winslow,  President ;  David  Perry,  Clerk ; 
James  Elliott,  Collector  ;  H.  W.  Baker,  Street 
Commissioner ;  F.  S.  Day,  Treasurer ;  J.  P. 
Thompson,  Constable ;  and  Dennis  Dunnavan, 
Fire  Warden.  Thompson  was  subsequently  elec- 
ted Street  Commissioner,  in  place  of  Baker  who 
failed  to  qualify,  and  Fire  Warden  in  place  of 
Dunnavan  who  was  removed. 

The  completion  of  the  Canal,  in  the  Spring"  of 
this  year,  forms  an  era  in  the  history  of  the  town, 
and  indeed  of  the  State.  Its  effect  upon  the  town, 
however,  was  not  so  marked  and  immediate  as 
upon  the  sister  town  of  La  Salle,  which 
then,  for  the  first  time,  attracted  general  public 
attention,  and  became  a  formidable  rival  to  her 
older  sister.  Upon  the  latter  its  favorable  effects 
were  more  apparent  in  the  course  of  the  two  or 
three  following  years,  when  the  increased  pros- 
perity of  the  country  reacted  upon  it.  The  travel, 
which  had  always  centered  at  Peru,  was  mainly 
diverted  to  La  Salle.  Although  the  waters  of  the 
Canal  and  River  were  united  at  Peru,  it  was  soon 


38  THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU. 

found,  that  in  consequence  of  the  Steamboat  and 
Canal  Boat  Basin  being  at  La  Salle,  the  practical 
junction  was  there.  The  forwarding  business,  af- 
ter a  long  and  ineffectual  struggle  on  the  part  of 
Peru  to  retain  it,  finally  settled  at  that  point. 

In  October  Holbrook  and  Underbill  established 
a  weekly  paper,  called  the  "  Peru  Telegraph.  " 

The  first  substantial  Stone  Ware  House  built  in 
the  town  was  erected  this  year,  directly  upon  the 
river  bank,  by  T.  D.  Brewster,  Esq. 

The  Spring  of  1849  was  remarkable  for  the 
greatest  flood  known  since  the  settlement  of  the 
country.  There  had  been  heavy  rains  in  the 
month  of  January  which  raised  the  river  out  of 
its  banks,  overflowing  all  the  bottoms.  The 
weather  changed  to  cold  suddenly  and  froze  the 
waters,  in  many  places  from  bluff  to  bluff,  into  a 
broad  crystaline  Lake.  Such  was  the  case  on 
the  bottom  above  the  town,  which  was  covered 
with  a  sheet  of  ice  for  nearly  six  miles,  to  Utica. 
This  mass  of  intercepted  water,  together  with  all 
the  country  drained  by  the  head  branches  of  the 
river,  was  afterwards  covered  with  a  heavy  mass 
of  snow.  About  the  first  of  March  the  weather 
again  suddenly  became^ warm,  and  heavy  rains 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  39 

set  in,  which  soon  loosened  the  accumulations  of 
snow  and  ice.  Every  creek  and  run  contributed 
a  flood,  and  every  ravine  and  slough  a  torrent  to 
the  swelling  river,  which  on  the  9th  of  March 
was  twenty-five  feet,  or  more,  above  low  water. 
Its  sudden  rise  loosened  the  heavy  masses  of  ice 
spread  over  the  bottoms  above,  without  breaking 
them  up.  One  of  these  came  down,  miles  in 
length  and  breadth,  entirely  filling  the  space  be- 
sween  the  bluffs,  and  crushed  everything  in  its 
course.  Trees,  indicating  a  growth  of  centuries, 
were  as  reeds  in  its  path,  producing  no  check  to 
its  resistless  and  majestic  motion.  The  Ware 
House,  heretofore  mentioned  as  being  built  by  Mr. 
Brewster,  then  occupied  by  Brewster  and  Beebe, 
was  crushed  like  an  egg  shell.  It  was  nearly 
filled  with  wheat,  flour  and  merchandise,  a  por- 
tion of  which  had  been  hastily  removed,  and  a 
portion  was  destroyed.  The  waters  soon  subsi- 
ded and  the  river  became  very  low  before  the 
close  of  navigation  in  the  fall.  This  was 
the  greatest  freshet  which  has  taken  place  since 
the  settlement  of  the  country  by  the  Whites,  but 
the  Indians  related  to  the  early  settlers  accounts 
of  still  higher  waters.  They  have  asserted  that 


4:0  THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU. 

the  present  site  of  Ottawa  has  been  submerged 
within  the  memory  of  those  now  living.  Sha- 
bone,  an  Indian  well  known  in  Northern  Illinois, 
is  reported  to  have  said  that  he  has  passed  over 
it  in  a  canoe.  In  1844,  the  great  freshet  occurred 
in  the  Mississippi,  raising  the  waters  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  111.  still  higher  than  they  afterwards 
were  in  1849.  This  was  not  the  case  with  the 
upper  portion  of  the  river.  An  idea  is  current 
in  this  part  of  the  country,  that  great  freshets 
recur,  continuing  throughout  the  greater  portion 
of  the  summer,  once  in  seven  years.  This  notion 
is  justified  by  the  recurrence  of  protracted  fresh- 
ets in  1830/1837,  1844,1851  and  1858.  Mr. 
Meginness,  in  his  "  Otzinachson  "  or  "  History  of 
the  "West  Branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  "  mentions 
that  the  same  impression  prevailed  in  that  region 
concerning  freshets,  only  that  theirs  recurred  once 
in  fourteen  years. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Election  in  1849 — First  appearance  of  Cholera — 
Elections  in  1850 — Project  for  a  Rail  Road  to 
Aurora — Burning  of  the  National  Hotel — Es- 
tablishment of  the  "  Peru  Democrat  " — The 
issue  of  $25,000  Bonds  authorized  on  account  of 
Peru  aud  Rock  Island  Rail  Road — United  States 
Census — Incorporation  of  the  City — Territory 
embraced  in  City  Limits — Elections  under  the 
Charter  in  1851 — Question  of  issuing  Bonds  on 
account  of  subscription  to  the  Stock  of  Chicago 
and  Rock  Island  Rail  Road  decided  unanimous- 
ly in  the  affirmativ.e  at  an  Election — Resurvey  of 
the  City— Issue  of  $40,000  of  Bonds— Organiza- 
tion of  the  Central  Rail  Road  Company — Pro- 
test of  Peru  against  the  place  of  crossing  the 
River — Peru  and  Grandetour  Plank  Road. 
At  an  election  held  on  the  2d  April,  1849,  P. 

M.  Kilduff,  Frederick  Kaiser,  S.  1ST.  Maze,  Noah 

Sapp  and  sDavid  Lininger  were  elected  Trustees. 

Whole  number  of  Votes  159.     This  Board  elec- 


42  THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU. 

ted  P.  M.  Kilduff,  President ;  Erasmus  Winslow, 
Clerk ;  Ezra  McKinzie,  Assessor ;  James  Cahill, 
Collector ;  J.  P.  Thompson,  Street  Commissioner, 
Constable  and  Fire  Warden ;  and  H.  S.  Beebe, 
Treasurer.  In  consequence  of  the  absence  of 
Beebe,  H.  L.  Tuller  was  elected  Treasurer  in  his 
place. 

In  the  Spring  of  this  year  the  cholera  first  made 
its  appearance  in  the  West.  In  the  months  of 
April  and  May  several  citizens  fell  victims  to  the 
disease.  On  the  20th  of  June  it  suddenly  as- 
sumed a  malignant  and  virulent  character,  and 
some  hundreds  were  swept  off  in  the  course  of 
three  or  four  weeks.  The  citizens  were  general- 
ly panic  stricken,  and  many  fled.  It  suddenly 
ceased,  and  the  season  thenceforth  was  healthy. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  the  second  perma- 
nent and  substantial  warehouse,  directly  upon  the 
river,  was  erected  by  Churchill  Coffing,  Esq. 

At  an  election  held  on  the  1st  April,  1850,  T. 
D.  Brewster,  I.  D.  Harmon,  William  Paul,  Eras- 
mus Winslow  and  William  Roush  were  elected 
Trustees.  Whole  number  of  votes  49 — This  Board 
elected  William  Paul,  President ;  P.  M.  Kilduff, 
Clerk;  H.  L.  Tuller,  Treasurer;  Geo.  Low, 


THE   HISTORY    OF   PEKU.  4:3 

Assessor ;  J.  P.  Thompson,  Street  Commission- 
er ;  Michael  Griffith,  Constable ;  Edmund  Penn- 
ington,  Fire  "Warden;  James  Caliill,  Collector; 
and  Erasmus  Winslow,  Health  Commissioner ; 
During  this  year  the  subject  of  Railroads  began 
to  attract  the  attention  of  the  people  of  Illinois. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  town  were  a  good  deal  ex- 
cited about  the  location  of  one  from  Aurora,  in 
Kane  county,  to  Peru,  via.  Ottawa.  Subscrip- 
tions were  raised,  and  one  hundred  dollars  were 
appropriated  from  the  treasury  to  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  the  survey.  This  road  was  never  con-' 
stnicted,  but  the  interests  of  the  town  were  after- 
wards satisfied  by  the  construction  of  the  Aurora 
Extension,  and  Chicago  and  Burlington,  crossing 
the  Illinois  Central  at  Mendota. 

In  August,  the  National  Hotel,  owned  by  Z. 
Lewis  Esq.,  was  destroyed  by  fire.  This  was  the 
largest  and  best  building  in  the  town,  and  was  the 
first  serious  loss  by  fire. 

In  this  year,  Adam  Lerch  was  appointed  Street 
Commissioner,  in  place  of  Thompson  who  was  re- 
moved. 

In  October  Hammond  and  Welch  established 
the  "  Peru  Democrat "  a  weekly  newspaper.  It 


44  THE    HISTORY    OF    PEHU. 

soon  took  a  high  rank  and  became  one  of  the 
leading  and  most  influential  papers  in  the  interi- 
or of  the  State.  Thomas  W.  Welch,  the  editor 
of  this  paper,  gave  promise  of  great  usefulness  in 
future  years.  He  was  a  vigorous  writer,  energet- 
ic and  industrious,  and  imparted  a  degree  of 
vivacity  and  spirit  to  his  sheet,  rarely  met  with 
in  country  newspapers.  He  was  born  at  Reading, 
England,  and  died  at  Princeton,  Illinois,  on  the 
26th  September,  1852,  aged  twenty-nine  years. 

On  the  9th  .November  a  resolution  passed  the 
Board,  authorizing  a  subscription  on  the  part  of  the 
town,  of  $25,000  towards  the  capital  stock  of  the 
Hock  Island  and  Peru  Railroad,  on  condition  that 
the  road  should  make  its  eastern  terminus  on 
section  16. 

By  the  returns  of  the  United  States  c  ensus  for 
1850  there  were  4,500  inhabitants  in  the  town ! 
That  this  was  an  error  is  most  manifest.  A  steady 
increase  of  population  and  dwellings  took  place 
from  this  period  to  the  first  of  June,  1854,  when 
by  a  census  carefully  taken,  by  one  of  the  citizens, 
there  were  only  3,036  inhabitants.  A  similar  in- 
crease has  been  going  on  until  the  present  time, 
when  there  are  found  to  be  only  3,652.  If  such 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  45 

a  decrease  has  taken  place  where  are  the  tene- 
ments vacated  ?  A  similar  error  occurs  in  the 
United  States  census  returns  of  La  Salle,  the 
population  of  which  is  set  down  at  3,201.  A  cen- 
sus, taken  by  the  authority  of  the  town  soon  after, 
exhibited  1,100  !  It  is  probable  that  the  census 
taker  was  contented  with  the  answer  of  the  first 
man  he  met,  of  whom  he  enquired  the  amount  of 
population,  and  that  this  person  happened  to  be 
a  large  lot  holder.  Generally,  in  such  cases,  if  the 
amount  stated  be  divided  by  two,  an  approximate 
result  may  be  obtained. 

On  the  15th  March,  1851,  the  town  of  Peru 
was  incorporated  as  a  City.  The  territory  incor- 
porated embraced  the  South  half  of  Section  16, 
the  South  East  quarter  of  Section  17,  the  North 
East  fractional  quarter  of  Section  20  and  all  of 
Section  21  North  of  the  river.  The  extent  of 
territory  embraced  in  the  City,  was  forty-eight 
acres  less  than  that  in  the  borough,  that  part  of 
Section  21  included  containing  forty-five  acres, 
while  the  North  West  fractional  quarter  of  Sec- 
tion 20  excluded  contained  ninety-three  acres. — 
This  territory  was  divided  into  two  wards.  The 
leading  motive  in  petitioning  for  this  Charter  un- 


4:6  THE   HISTORY   OF  PERTT. 

doubtedly  was  to  enable  the  City  to  issue  Bonds 
on  account  of  Rail  Road  subscriptions.  ; 

The  first  election  held  under  this  Charter  was 
held  in  April,  1851,  which  resulted  in  the  elec- 
tion of  T.  D.  Brewster,  Mayor ;  Geo.  "W.  Gilson 
and  Jacob  S.  Miller,  Aldermen  for  the  First  Ward, 
and  Erasmus  Winslow  and  John  Morris,  Aldermen 
for  the  Second  Ward.  Whole  number  of  votes 
196. — By  the  provisions  of  the  Charter,  the  Alder, 
men  were  to  be  elected  for  two  years — two  out  of  the 
first  four  retiring  at  the  end  of  the  first  year — to 
be  determined  by  lot.  Gilson  and  Winslow  drew 
the  long  term.  This  Council  elected  Churchill 
Coning,  Clerk;  P.  M.  Kilduif,  Treasurer;  F.  S. 
Day.  Assessor ;  A.  Roberts,  Marshall ;  Z.  Lewis, 
Street  Commissioner ;  and  James  Cahill  Collec- 
tor. 

The  question  of  issuing  Bonds  on  account  of 
subscription  to  the  Stock  of  the  Rock  Island  and 
La  Salle  Rail  Road,  (the  Charter  having  been  so 
amended  as  to  continue  the  road  to  Chicago,) 
was  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people  on  the  17th 
May.  The  vote  in  the  affirmative  was  unani- 
mous. 

Conflicting  claims  having  arisen  out  of  discrep- 


THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU.  4:7 

ancles  between  former  surveys  of  the  town,  a 
new  survey  was  ordered  and  established  by  or- 
dinance, and  other  measures  taken  to  legalize  the 
act. 

On  the  22d  February,  1852,  the  Kail  Eoad 
Charter  having  been  again  amended  and  the 
Company  denominated  the  Chicago  and  Rock 
Island  Rail  Road  Company,  the  question  of  an 
issue  of  Bonds  on  account  of  subscription  to  its 
Stock,  to  the  extent  of  $40,000,  including  the 
$25,000  previously  authorzied,  was  submitted  to 
a  vote  of  the  people.  Strenuous  exertions  had  been 
made  to  defeat  the  subscription  ;  and  this  time 
there  were  found  to  be  16  votes  in  the  negative 
to  280  in  the  affirmative.  $40,000  of  10  per 
cent  Bonds  were  issued,  and  the  same  amount  was 
subscribed  to  the  Stock  of  the  Road,  which  du- 
ring the  fall  and  winter  was  commenced  and 
vigorously  prosecuted. 

The  certificates  of  stock  thus  subscribed  for 
were,  by  virtue  of  section  5  of  an  ordinance  passed 
12th  April,  1852,  to  remain  with  the  Rock  Island 
Railroad  Company  in  trust,  pledged  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  bonds  and  interest,  and  convertable 
into  stock  at  the  option  of  the  holder ;  thus  giving 


48  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

him  tlic  advantage  of  any  advance  of  the  stock 
above  par,  while  the  City  must  pocket  the  loss  of 
any  depression  below.  The  interest  due  on  the 
1st  November  was  paid  by  means  of  a  loan  author- 
ized by  the  Council  on  the  18th  October.  Inter- 
est scrip  of  an  equal  amount  was  issued  by  the 
Company,  convertable  into  stock  on  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Road. 

In  the  winter,  the  charter  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  company  was  granted.  The  lands, 
formerly  ceded  by  Congress,  were  donated  to  this 
company,  upon  the  condition  that  they  should 
build  a  road  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  the 
junction  of  the  canal  and  Illinois  river,  with 
branches  &c.  The  same  terms  were  prescribed  by 
Congress  in  the  act  of  cession.  The  people  of 
Peru  assumed,  that  by  this  it  was  intended  that  it 
should  terminate  at  the  pier  head,  where  the  waters 
of  the  canal  and  river  unite.  The  company  pro- 
ceeded to  build  the  bridge  across  the  river  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Little  Yermillion,  a  mile  and  a-half 
above.  This  drew  forth  a  vigorous  protest  from 
the  City  Council  which  was  duly  forwarded  to  the 
officers  of  the  company,  and  to  the  proper  Depart- 
ment at  Washington.  Nothing  however  came  of 


THE    HISTORY   OF    PERU. 

49 

it,  and  the  company  proceeded  to  complete  their 
works  according  to  their  original  plan.  This  gave 
to  the  rival  City  of  La  Salle  still  farther  advan- 
tages, by  way  for  facilities  of  trade,  north  and 
south. 

On  the  5th  February,  1850,  the  Peru  and 
Grandetour  Plank  Road  company  was  organized, 
under  a  charter  previously  obtained,  by  the  elec- 
tion of  T.  D.  Brewster,  J.  H.  McMillan,  William 
Paul  and  J.  L.  McCormick  of  Peru,  Tracy  Reeve 
of  Larnoile,  F.  R.  Butcher  of  Shelburn,  and  Solon 
Cummings  of  Grandetour,  Directors.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1851,  so  much  of  the  road  was  completed 
as  justified,  under  the  charter,  the  collection  of 
tolls.  It  was  afterwards  completed  as  far  as  Ar- 
lington, in  Bureau  county,  and  partially  construct- 
ed to  Lamoile.  This  enterprize  was  looked  upon 
as  promising  great  advantages,  not  only  to  the 
town,  but  also  to  the  country  through  which  it 
passed.  The  result  demonstrated  that  these  ex- 
pectations were  reasonable.  The  large  franc 
which  passed  over  it,  for  a  few  succeeding  years, 
could  not  by  any  possibility  have  existed  without 
it.  It  was  originally  contemplated  to  finish  it  to 
Grandetour,  on  Rock  river,  but  want  of  funds  de^ 


50  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERtT. 

layed  the  work,  until  tlie  construction  of  intersect- 
ing lines  of  Railroads,  in  a  degree,  superseded  its 
necessity.  The  road  has  since  been  allowed  to 
run  down,  and  the  plank  have  been  removed. 
The  company  at  present  do  not  pretend  to  exer- 
cise any  control  over  it.  For  a  great  portion  of 
the  present  season,  it  has  been  in  so  bad  a  condi- 
tion as  to  be  quite  impassable  for  loaded  teams, 
and  nearly  so  for  vehicles  of  any  description.  Thus 
cut  off  from  the  trade  of  the  north  by  bad  roads, 
and  of  the  south  by  the  difficulty  in  crossing  the 
river  and  bottom,  the  only  resource  that  remained 
to  the  trading  portion  of  the  community,  was  to 
trade  with  each  other.  In  this  it  is  to  be  hoped 
they  have  been  as  successful  as  the  boys  who 
traded  jack-knives  with  each  other  all  day. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Elections  in  1852- — Reappearance   of  the   Chol- 
era— Operations  on  the  Rail  Road — Elections 
in   1853 — Resignation  of  the  Mayor   and  new 
Election — Issue  of    $10,000   eight  per    cent. 
Market  House  Bonds — Opening  of  the  Chicago 
and  Rock  Island  Rail  Road  to   Peru — Estab- 
lishment of  the  "  Peru  Weekly  Chronicle  "  and 
"Daily  Chronicle "— E.  Higgms   &  Co's  and 
McMillan   &   Co's  Stores  burnt — Elections  in 
1854 — Blue  Ballot  Question — Manner  of  Pay- 
ing Interest  on  Bonds — Opening  of  the   Rail 
Road  to  Rock  Island — Census — Completion  of 
the  Market  House  and  issue  of  $2,600  Bonds. 
AT  an  election  held  on  the  5th   day   of  April, 
1852,  T.  D.  Brewster  was  reelected  Mayor,  John 
Morris  elected  Alderman  for  the  Frst  Ward,   and 
C.  R.  Holmes  for  the  Second.     Whole  number  of 
votes,  220.     The   Council   elected  I.  D.  Taylor, 
Clerk ;  P.  M.  Kilcluff,  Treasurer ;  E.  S.  Holbrook, 


02  THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU. 

Assessor ;  Eichard  Lonsbury,  Collector  and  Street 
commissioner ;  and  Fredrick  Schulte,  Marshal. 
During  the  Summer,  the  Cholera  again  made 
its  appearance,  and  with  increased  violence.— 
From  the  first  settlement  of  the  town  to  1849, 
with  the  exception  of  the  years  1838  and  1839, 
when  billious  fevers  prevailed  to  some  extent, 
the  inhabitants  had  enjoyed  immunity  from  dis- 
ease, seldom  experienced  in  new  western  settle- 
ments, or  indeed  in  any  other.  For  the  space  of 
one  year,  no  death  occurred  except  from  casual- 
ity.  Even  the  ague  found  few,  if  any  subjects. 
Throughout  the  summers  of  1850  and  1851, 
cholera  continued  its  ravages  in  the  surrounding 
towns  and  country,  and  visited  Peru  but  slightly. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  summer  of  1852,  while 
La  Salle  and  other  contiguous  places  were  scourg- 
ed, Peru  remained  healthy.  At  length  it  appear- 
ed to  have  spent  its  material  and  departed  the  en- 
tire country.  Suddenly  it  reappeared ;  and  while 
the  places  previously  afflicted  remained  healthy, 
Peru  was  devastated  to  an  extent  not  surpassed, 
if  equaled,  by  any  place  in  the  United  States. 
The  estimated  number  of  victims  was  from  five  to 
six  hundred,  being  about  one-sixth  of  the  entire 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  53 

population.  It  was  observed  that  less  panic  and 
excitement  were  produced  than  upon  its  visitation 
in  1849.  But  few  cases  occurred  in  the  two  fol- 
lowing years ;  and  from  that  time  to  the  present — 
1858 — the  same  freedom  from  disease  has  prevail- 
ed which  distinguished  its  early  settlement. 
Throughout  this  year  operations  on  the  Railroad 
were  pushed  forward  with  great  energy. 

At  an  election  held  on  the  4th  April,  1853, 
P.  M.  Kilduff  and  Ii.  S.  Beebe  each  received  144 
votes  for  Mayor.  'Churchill  Coming  was  elected 
Alderman  for  the  First  Ward,  and  John  L.  Coates 
for  the  Second  Ward.  On  counting  the  votes  for 
Mayor,  a  question  arose  concerning  the  validity 
of  a  ballot  deposited  for  Beebe.  By  the  statute 
it  is  provided  that  if,  upon  counting  the  votes 
given  at  any  election,  two  ballots  shall  be  found 
folded  together,  attempt  at  fraud  shall  be  pre- 
sumed and  both  ballots  thrown  out.  In  this  case  one 
piece  of  paper  was  found  with  the  name  of  Beebe 
printed  on  it  twice.  It  was  decided  by  the  Coun- 
cil that  no  evidence  of  attempt  at  fraud  was  here 
presented,  that  none  could  by  any  possibility  be 
thus  perpetrated,  and  that  the  ballot  should  be 
counted  as  one  vote.  By  this  decision  a  tie  exist- 


54  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

ed.  The  election  was  then  decided  by  lot,  agree- 
able to  the  provisions  of  an  ordinance  for  the  case 
provided,  in  favor  of  Beebe.  The  Council  elect- 
ed J.  D.  Taylor,  Clerk;  J..Y.  H.  Judd  and  B. 
P.  Wright,  a  board  of  Health ;  J.  L.  Coates,  Trea- 
surer; E.  S.  Holbrook,  Assessor;  James  Cahill, 
Collector;  J.  P.  Thompson,  Marshal;  T.  E.  G-. 
Eansom,  Surveyor ;  -and  A.  F.  Powers,  Sexton. 
The  place  of  John  Morris  becoming  vacant  by 
means  of  his  removal  from  the  Ward,  J.  L. 
McCormick  was  elected  Alderman  in  his  place. 
The  May  interest  on  the  Railroad  bonds  was  pro- 
vided for  in  the  same  manner  as  on  the  preceding 
November. 

On  the  21st  May  Beebe  resigned  as  Mayor, 
and  a  new  election  was  ordered  which  resulted  in 
the  election  of  Kilduff  by  52  majority,  Beebe  being 
again  his  opponent.  Whole  number  of  votes  298  m 

On  the  20th  August  $5,000  of  bonds,  bearing 
ten  per  cent,  interest,  were  authorized  to  be  issued 
for  the  purpose  of  building  a  City  Hall  and  for 
current  expenses;  and  on  the  17th  September 
$10,000  of  bonds,  bearing  eight  per  cent,  interest, 
were  authorized  to  be  issued  for  the  same  purpose. 
The  $5,000  bonds  first  authorized  were  never 
issued. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  55 

Iii  April  of  this  year  the  Chicago  and  Rock 
Island  Railroad  was  opened  for  traffic  and  travel 
to  Peru. 

The  "  Peru  Weekly  Chronicle  "  was  established 
by  J.  F.  and  K  Linton,  on  the  1st  March,  and  its 
publication  was  continued  until  September,  1856. 
For  ten  months  during  this  period,  the  Messrs. 
Linton  also  published  a  ".Daily  Chronicle" 
which  was  in  all  respects  creditable  to  them  and 
to  the  town.  About  the  beginning  of  this  year  a 
serious  fire  took  place  on  Water  street,  which  de- 
stroyed two  large  three-story  stone  stores,  with 
most  of  their  contents,  one  occupied  by  E.  Hig- 
gins  &  Co.  as  a  Hardware  store,  and  the  other  by 
J.  II.  McMillan  &  Co.  as  a  Dry  Goods  store. 

At  an  election  held  on  the  26th  April,  1854,  T. 
D.  Brewster  was  elected  Mayor,  Antoine  Birkeii- 
buel,  Alderman  for  the  First  Ward,  David  Dana 
for  the  Second  Ward,  and  John  P.  Thompson, 
Police  Magistrate.  The  Council  elected  Henry 
Jones,  Clerk ;  Geo.  W.  Gilson,  Treasurer ;  James 
Cahill,  Collector;  Geo.  Low,  Assessor;  W.  II. 
Foot,  Marshal ;  William  Lopstater,  Street  Com- 
missioner ;  and  A.  F.  Powers,  Sexton. 

A  question  arose  concerning  the  validity  of  this 


56  THE    HISTORY    OF    1'ERU. 

election.  By  the  Constitution  it  is  provided,  that 
at  all  elections  voting  shall  be  by  ballot  on  white 
paper.  In  this  case  ballots  were  found  for  Brewster 
for  Mayor,  printed  or  written  on  paper  having  a 
blue  tinge — the  ordinary  blue  tinged  writing 
paper.  T<,  was  contended  that  this  was  not  white 
paper  within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution.  The 
former  Mayor  refused  to  surrender  the  seals  and 
books  of  the  City,  and  Aldermen  Coning  and 
Coates  abstained  from  the  meetings  of  the  Coun- 
cil. The  question  was  carried  by  mandamus  to  the 
Supreme  Court  and  decided  in  favor  of  the  validity 
of  the  election. 

No  provision  was  made  for  the  payment  of  the 
interest  on  the  Railroad  bonds  due  on  the  1st  of 
May,  until  the  26th  August,  when  a  loaa  for  that 
purpose  was  authorized.  In  this,  as  on  former  oc- 
casions of  paying  interest  on  these  bonds,  a  loss  of 
about  $300  was  sustained  by  the  City  which  was 
made  up  from  the  general  fund.  This  arose  from 
the  depreciation  of  the  interest  scrip  issued  by  the 
company,  which  did  not  bear  interest,  and  which 
was  not  convertable  until  the  completion  of  the 
Road,  and  from  exchange. 

In  April  of  this   year,  the   Chicago  and    Rock 


HISTORY  OF  PERU.  5? 


Island  Railroad  was  opened  to  Rock  Island,  its 
entire  length.  No  particular  improvement  in 
business  took  place  in  consequence. 

By  a  census  taken  on  the  1st  June,  the  number 
of  inhabitants  was  found  to  be  3,036. 

In  January,  1855,  the  new  Market  House  and 
City  Hall  was  completed.  On  the  10th  February 
$2,600  of  eight  per  cent,  bonds  were  issued  to 
pay  the  balance  due  the  contractors. 


CHAPTER  IX, 

Elections  in  1855 — City  indebtedness — Issue  of 
$5)000  eight  per  cent  bonds — Resignation  of 
the  Mayor — Establishment  of  the  "Peru  Senti- 
nel"— Elections  in  1856— Railroad  Round  House 
burnt — $20,000  bridge   bonds  authorized — Ap 
propriations  for  damages  for  flooded  stores — Ex- 
tra Railroad  dividend — Hoffman  House  burnt — 
Chair  Factory  burnt — Geo.  B.  Willis — Exten- 
sion of   the  City  limits — Recorders   Court — 
Elections   in   1857 — Eon-payment  of  interest 
on  City  bonds — Financial  revulsion — Fitzsim- 
mons  &  Beebe's  Foundry  and  Machine    Shop 
burnt— Elections  in  1858— Issue  of  $5,000  ten 
per    cent,    interest    bonds    authorized — Rainy 
weather  and  bad  roads — Revival  of  business. 
At  an  Election  held  on  the  2d  April,  1855,  Geo. 
W.  Gilson  was  elected  Mayor,  R.  H.  Booth  Al- 
derman for  the  First  "Ward,  and  A.  L.  Shepherd 
for  the   Second  Ward. '  The    Council    elected 
Henry  Jones,  Clerk ;   W.   Johnson,   Treasurer ; 


.'fHE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  59 

J.  B.  White,  Collector;  Isaac  Abraham,  Assess- 
or; Peter  Fought  and  William  Wilde,  Street 
Commissioners ;  G.  N".  -Mckinzie,  Marshall; 
Chas.  Blanchard,  Attorney ;  T.  E.  G.  Ransom, 
Surveyor ;  John  Higgins,  Health  Officer ;  A.  F. 
Powers,  Sexton ;  and  Chas.  Love  and  A.  L.  Bull, 
Fire  Wardens. 

On  the  12th  April  the  City  indebtedness   was 
ascertained  to  be  as  follows : 
Bonds  issued  on  account  of  Railroad         $40,000 

"          "  "     Market  House,        12,600 

Scrip  outstanding,  1,950 


Total  City  indebtedness,  $54,550 

On  the  30th   May  a  further  issue   of  $5,000 
eight  per  cent,    bonds   was   authorized  by  the 
Council  for  current  expenses,  which  were  issued* 
and  sold  for  4,500. 

On  the  25th  July,  R.  A.  Winston  was  elected 
Alderman  for  the  Second  Ward,  in  place'  of 
Shepherd  whose  office  became  vacant  by  reason 
of  his  removal  from  that  Ward. 

On  the  8th  December  Gilson  resigned  as 
Mayor. 

On  the  22nd  December  Ransom   resigned  as 


60  THE   HISTORY   OF   FERU. 

Surveyor,  and  II.  H.  Brown  was  elected  in  his 
place. 

The  "  Peru  Sentinel,  "  a  weekly  newspaper,  was 
established  by  J.  L.  McCormick  and  Guy  Hulett 
in  August.  It  was  always  a  Democratic  organ, 
and  now  having  passed  under  the  management 
of  J.  F.  Meginness  Esq.,  is  fighting  valiantly  for 
Douglas*  and  against  Lecompton.  * 

On  the  Tth  April,  1856,  J.  L.  McCormick  was 
elected  Mayor,  P.  M.  Kilduff  Alderman  for  the 
First  Ward,  and  C.  L.  Huntoon  for  the  Second 
Ward.  The  Council  elected  M.  C.  Harmon, 
Clerk ;  J.  B.  White,  Treasurer  ;  Chas.  Blanch- 
ard,  Attorney ;  Henry  Jones,  Collector ;  Geo.  Of 
Banks,  Assessor ;  Peter  Fought  and  J.  P.  Thomp- 
son, Street  Commissioners ;  II.  II.  Brown,  Sur- 
veyor; W.  H.  Foot,  Marshal. 

In  the  month  of  May  the  Round  House,  belong- 
ing to  the  Chicago  and  Rock  Island  Railroad 
Company,  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

On  the  17th  June  the  question  of  issuing 
$20,000  bonds  on  account  of  subscription  towards 
the  stock  of  a  Bridge  Company,  chartered  for  the 

*  On  tho!7fch  August,  this  office  was  destroyed  by  tire.  The 
building — a  three-story  brick — in  which  it  was  situated,  was  owned 
by  J.  L.  McCormick,  Esq.,  and  was  the  first  brick  building  erected 
in  the  town.  It  was  built  in  1839. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  61 

purpose  of  building  a  bridge  across  the  river  at 
the  foot  of  White  street,  was  submitted  to  a  vote 
of  the  people.  It  was  decided  in  the  affirmative 
by  a  large  majority.  The  bonds  have  never  been 
issued  nor  the  subscription  made — nor  the  bridge 
built.  Among  the  appropriations  for  this  year 
were  $575  to  H.  G.  "W.  Cronise,  and  $218  50  to 
Joseph  Kelly  for  damages  sustained  by  the  flood- 
ing of  their  stores  with  water,  caused  by  defi- 
ciency in  the  culverts. 

The  Railroad  Company  commenced  paying 
semi-annual  dividends  on  their  stock  on  the  1st 
of  November,  1854, — first  dividend  four  per 
cent;  all  after  five;  and  continued  doing  so  until  the 
1st  November,  1856,  when  an  extra  dividend  of 
twelve  and  a-half  per  cent,  payable  in  stock,  was 
made.  From  this  the  City  realized  $4,825,  a  por- 
tion of  which  was  used  in  paying  oif  two  judge- 
ments which  had  been  obtained  against  the  City, 
and  upon  which  the  City  Hall  had  been  sold, 
amounting  together  to  $1,474  50.  The  balance 
was  used  for  the  payment  of  outstanding  cou- 
pons on  the  various  kinds  of  bonds,  and  other 
claims. 

On  the  7th  January  another  serious  loss  by  fire 


62  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

took  place.  The  Hoffman  House,  owned  by  John 
Hoffman  and  occupied  by  P.  T.  Moore,  was  de- 
stroyed. The  building  was  thoroughly  and  sub- 
stantially built,  although  of  wood,  and  occupied 
a  beautiful  site,  and  was  one  of  the  leading  insti- 
tutions of  the  town.  The  loss  to  both  owner  and 
occupant  was  heavy. 

'On  the  26th  September,  of  the  same  year, 
an  extensive  chair,  furniture,  sash  and  blind 
factory,  erected  through  the  indomitable  energy 
and  perseverance  of  Geo.  B.  "Willis,  was  destroy- 
ed by  fire.  Loss  about  $20,000.  The  fate  of  Mr. 
Willis,  who  is  now  beyond  the  reach  of  praise  or 
ceusure,  calls  for  a  passing  notice.  He  came  to 
Peru,  poor  and  blind.  By  his  sagacity  and  energy 
he  so  improved  his  circumstances  that  he  suc- 
ceeded in  building  and  putting  into  operation  a 
manufactory  which  gave  employment  to  about 
fifty  mechanics.  The  manner  in  which  he  con- 
ducted this  business  would  have  done  credit  to 
any  person  in  the  possession  of  all  of  his  senses, 
but  was  very  remarkable  when  done  by  one  who 
suffered  under  the  loss  of  so  important  an  organ 
as  that  of  sight.  But  the  load  was  too  heavy  for 
him  to  carry,  He  staggered  for  a  time  and  fell, 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  63 

Disappointment,  mortification,  anxiety  and  des- 
dondency  did  their  work.  The  grave  holds  him. 
Whose  hand  was  stretched  forth  to  lighten  the 
burden  under  which  he  began  to  reel  ?  Whose 
voice  whispered  words  of  sympathy  and  hope 
when  discouragement  and  disaster  crowded  upon 
him  ?  Whose  was  the  intelligent  self  interest  that 
enquired  whether  a  small  amount  of  aid,  in  mon- 
ey or  credit,  would  not  sustain  and  foster 
an  enterprise  which,  in  its  turn,  would  in- 
vigorate every  interest  in  the  community  ?— 
Whose  was  the  practical  sagacity  that  perceived, 
that  fifty  male  operatives,  with  their  families  and 
dependants,  were  of  more  value  in  advancing  the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  the  town  than  the  rows 
of  stately  and  costly  stores,  which  have  for  years 
stood  idle  and  tenantless  ?  Where  were  the  men 
— generally  to  be  found  on  every  corner— who 
proclaim  that  upon  manufacturing  industry  alone 
must  Peru  depend  for  advancement  ?  Ah ! 
When  it  wras  perceived  that  Mr.  Willis  had  under- 
taken an  enterprise  to  which  his  energies  and 
means  were  inadequate,  how  hands  which,  had 
been  stretched  forth  to  catch  the  copious  streams 
of  disbursrnent,  slunk  into  the  fathomless  depths 


64:  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

of  pockets !  How  importunate  and  inexorable 
were  those  cormorants  of  every  petty  western 
community,  called  by  courtesy,  "  Banks,  "  which 
had  moused  into  every  nook  and  corner  for  paper 
upon  which  it  was  hoped  would  prove  a  profita- 
ble investment. 

In  February,  1857,  by  act  of  the  Legislature, 
the  limits  of  the  City  were  extended  over  the 
whole  of  Section  16  and  17.  This  made  the  su- 
perficial area  1462  acres.  In  the  same  month  an 
act  passed,  creating  a  Recorders  Court  for  the 
Cities  of  Peru  and  La  Salle,  with  jurisdiction  over 
the  territory  of  the  Townships  of  Salisbury  and 
La  Salle — six  square  miles.  Churchill  Coifing 
was  appointed  Judge,  and  Daniel  Evans,  Clerk, 
who  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties. — 
One  term  of  the  Court  was  held  at  La  Salle.  A 
question  arose  concerning  the  constitutionality, 
of  this  Court  which  was  taken,  by  an  agreed  case,  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  where  it  was  held  that  it  was  an 
Inferior  Court ;  that  the  Legislature  possessed  the 
power  only  to  grant  jurisdiction  to  such  Courts 
over  the  territory  of  a  single  City ;  that  by  no 
implication  could  the  Constitution  be  construed 
so  as  to  grant  the  power  to  extend  it  over  territo- 


THB    HISTOKT    OF    PERU.  65 

ry  not  embraced  within  city  limits ;  that  the 
whole  act  must  be  considered  together ;  that  the 
powers  therein  granted  could  not  be  separated, 
and  if  one  part  was  found  to  be  constitutionaly  ob- 
jectionable, the  whole  must  fall  together ;  and 
that  therefore  the  act  was  unconstitutional  and 
void. 

At  an  election  held  in  April,  185T,  John  L. 
McCormick  was  reelected  Mayor  and  F.  W.  Schulte 
was  elected  Alderman  for  the  First  Ward.  No 
election  was  made  in  the  Second  Ward,  Erasmus 
Winslow  and  I.  0.  Day  each  receiving  63  votes. 
On  the  2d  May,  a  new  election  was  called  which 
resulted  in  each  again  receiving  63  votes.  The 
question  was  then  decided  by  lot  in  favor  of  Wins- 
low.  The  Council  elected  Jno.  J,  Dowling,  Clerk ; 
David  Lininger,  Assessor;  D.  O.  Sullivan,  Col- 
lector; EL  G.  W.  Cronise,  Treasurer;  W.  H. 
Foot,  Marshall;  William  Hackman  and  Owen 
Judge,  Street  Commissioners ;  G.  D.  Ladd,  At- 
torney ;  Geo.  Seebach  and  J.  T.  Milling,  Health 
Officers ;  William  Lambach,  Surveyor ;  and  A. 
F.  Powers,  Sexton.  On  the  27th  May,  Ladd  re- 
signed as  Attorney,  and  Thomas  Halligan  was 
elected  in  his  place. 


66  THE    HISTORY   OF   PEKF, 

The  Rail  Road  Company  passed  the  payment  of 
their  November  dividend  and  the  city  also  passed 
the  payment  of  interest  on  her  bonds. 

During  the  latter  part  of  this  year  a  fi- 
nancial hurricane,  commencing  in  the  Uni. 
ted  States,  swept  over  the  world.  Money  van- 
ished from  sight  as  if  by  the  wand  of  a  magician. 
General  health,  bounteous  crops,  and  great  activ- 
ity in  every  branch  of  industry  had  prevailed.— 
Suddenly  everything  was  arrested  as  though  some 
Titan  held  his  hand  upon  a  brake  lever.  Peru 
did  not  escape  the  general  disaster.  Prices  of 
produce  became  so  low  that  farmers  declined  to 
market  it,  preferring  to  allow  their  creditors  to 
wrait  and  suffer  the  consequences  of  shattered 
credit.  But  few  failures,  however,  took  place. — 
The  Banks  did  not  suspend.  Nobody  failed— 
nobody  ever  does  fail  in  Illinois  until  the  Sheriff 
sells  them  out  or  shuts  them  up. 

On  the  llth  October,  the  Foundry  and  Machine 
Shop  of  Fitzsimmons  and  Beebe  was  destroyed  by 
fire  Loss  $16,500— insurance  $5,500.  This  estab- 
lishment had  given  employment  to  some  thirty  or 
forty  men.  Thus  another  of  the  industrial  es- 
tablishments of  Peru  went  out.  It  is  a  gloomy 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  67 

fact,  and  by  no  means  promising  sign,  that  with 
the  exception  of  the  stores  of  E.  Higgins  &  Co., 
and  McMillan  &  Co.,  no  important  establishment, 
destroyed  by  fire,  has  been  rebuilt.  The  black- 
ened walls  and  foundations  of  the  National  Hotel, 
Hoifman  House,  Lauber's  Cabinet  Shop,  the 
Chair  Factory  and  the  Foundry  and  Machine 
Shop  betray  the  lack  of  recuperative  energies. 

At  an  election  held  on  the  5th  of  April,  1858, 
John  L.  McCormick  was  again  reelected  Mayor, 
and  N".  Young  was  elected  Alderman  for  the  First 
Ward,  James  Cahill  for  the  Second  "Ward,  and 
P.  M.  Kilduff,  Police  Magistrate.  The  Coun- 
cil elected  John  J.  Dowling,  Clerk ;  H.  G.  W. 
Cr.onise,  Treasurer ;  T.  P.  Halligan,  Attorney ; 
D.  O.  Sullivan,  Collector ;  Henry  Jones,  Asses- 
sor ;  P.  W.  Milander  and  Owen  Judge,  Street 
Commissioners  ;  W.  F.  Lambach,  Surveyor ;  Gr. 
W.  Lininger  and  Bartlett  Denny,  Fire  Wardens ; 
GL  W.  Lininger  Inspector  of  weights  and  meas- 
ures ;  A.  L.  Bull,  inspector  of  lumber  and  wood ; 
W.  H.  Foot,  Marshal ;  John  Scott  and  Michael 
Noon,  Assistant  Marshals;  and  A.  F.  Powers 
Sexton. 
On  the  7th  day  of  June,  the  question  of  issu- 


68  .  THE    HISTORY    OF    PEKU. 

ing  $5,000  of  ten  per  cent,  bonds,  for  the  purpose 
of  paying  the  interest  over  due  on  the  bonds  be- 
fore issued,  was  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  peo- 
ple and  decided  affirmatively  by  21  majority. 

The  Spring  of  this  year  was  remarkable  for 
heavy  and  protracted  rains.  The  roads  from  the 
1st  May  to  the  1st  July  were  nearly  impassable, 
and  the  ground  was  so  saturated  as  to  make  culti- 
vation impossible.  About  the  middle  of  June  it 
ceased  raining,  and  crops  which  were  thought  to 
be  ruined  came  forward  with  remarkable  promise. 
At  this  present  writing  (10th  July)  every  indica- 
tion exists  of  a  full  average  crop. 

The  grain  and  other  produce,  which  had  been 
kept  back  on  account  of  low  prices  in  the  fall, 
could  not  be  brought  to  market  in  the  spring  on 
account  of  the  bad  condition  of  the  roads.  At 
this  time,  however,  the  streets  are  crowded  with 
teams,  fair  prices  are  paid  for  produce,  debts  are 
being  liquidated,  the  merchants  and  mechanics 
are  busy  and  satisfied,  and  every  interest  is  revi- 
ving. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Census — Occupations — Schools,  Churches  &c. — 
Business  Houses — Grain  Trade — Ice  Trade — 
Coal  Field — Peru  Coal  Shaft — Advantages  for 
Manufacturing — City  Debt — Review  of  the 
Census — Bridge — The  Future — Moral  and  In- 
tellectual view — List  of  Early  Families — Char- 
acter of  the  Inhabitants — Unenviable  Reputa- 
tions. 

We  will  now  examine  the  present  condition  and 
resources  of  Peru. 

The  following  is  a  table  of  a  census  taken  20th 
August,  1858. 

Whole  number  of  inhabitants,  .^8,652 

Under  ten  years  of  age,  1,175 

Under  twenty-one  years  and  over  ten  years,    561 
Over  twenty-one  years,  J>916 

Males,  1,876 

Females,  1,776 

Born  in  the  United  States,  1,841 

Born  in  Germany,  1,118 


70  THE    HISTOKY    OF    FERU. 

"     "  Ireland,  489 

"     "  England,  87 

"     "  Scotland,  24 

"     "  France,  27 

"     "  Kussian  Poland,  27 

"     "  Sweden,  17 

"     "  British  Provinces,  19 

Negroes,  3 

Born  of  foreign  parents  counted  as  Americans,  869 

Number  of  deaths  in  1857,  48 

OCCUPATIONS. 

Blacksmiths,         30           Farmers,  18 

Laborers,            326           Brakemen,  8- 

Carpenters,           71           Shoemakers,  26 

Livery  keepers,     4          Constables,  2 

Teamsters,           44           Merchants,  44 

Machinists,           20           Millers,  5 
Moulder                 1          Justices  of  the  Peace,    3 

Pattern  Makers,    2           Lawyers,  7 

Clerks,                  35           Porters,  5 

Ice  Merchants,       5           Barbers,  4 

Printers,                 9           Tobacconists,  2 

Millwrights,           2           Tinners,  13 
Masons,                36           Saloon  Keepers,        41 

Draymen,               5           Tailors,  9 


THE    HISTOKY    OF    PEBU. 


71 


Caulkers,  4          Physicians,  7 

Butchers,  13          Lumber  Merchants,     5 

Grocers,  11          General  Business,      15 

Saddlers,  7,          Civil  Engineers,  2 

Teachers,  3 

Gardeners,  5 

Painters,  9 

Ticket  Agent,         1 

Brewers,  11 

Cap  Maker,  1 

Book  Keepers,       4 

Lecturer,  1 

Wheelwrights,     13 

Cigar  Makers,        6 

Cabinet  Makers,    6 

Carpet  Weaver,     1 

Basket  Maker,       1 

Gun  Smith,  1 

Match  Makers        2 

Boatmen,  8 

Daguerreian,          1 

Land  Agents,        3 

There  are  seven  public  schools,  four  of  which  are 
organized  under  the  Union  School  system.  There 
are  six  Churches — one  Catholic,  one  Dutch  Re- 


Physicians, 

Lumber  Merchants, 

General  Business, 

Civil  Engineers, 

Bakers, 

Jewelers, 

Clergymen, 

Coopers, 

Peddlers, 

Conductors, 

Miners, 

Tavern  Keepers, 

Ship  Carpenters, 

Bankers, 

Brick  Makers, 

Ferrymen,  • 

Pilot, 

Musicians, 

Editors, 

Druggists, 

Rope  Maker, 


5 
2 
5' 

32 
7 

16 
2 
6 
2 
1 
3 
3 
4: 
1 


72  THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU. 

• 

formed,  one  Methodist,  one  German  Methodist, 
one  Gongregationalist,  and  one  Episcopal.  There 
are  one  Lodge  of  Good  Templars,  one  of  Odd 
Fellows,  and  one  of  Masons.  The  City  possesses 
a  commodious  Public  Hall,  erected  in  a  substan- 
tial manner  of  Milwaukie  brick,  at  an  expense 
of  over  $12,000.  It  is  divided  into  a  Council 
Chamber,  a  Public  Hall  for  meetings,  lectures, 
concerts,  &c.,  a  room  for  market  stalls,  and  a  cala- 
boose or  jail.  The  ware-houses,  stores,  hotels,  and 
dwellings  of  the  citizens,  for  solidity  of  structure 
and  architecture,  taste  and  adornment,  are,  as  a 
whole,  superior  to  most  places  of  its  size,  east  or 
west.  There  are  of  houses  and  places  of  busi- 
ness and  industrial  occupations  as  follows : 
703  Dwellings  and  tenements  occupied. 
15  do.  and  do.  unoccupied. 

4  Dry  Goods  Stores. 

7  Family  Groceries  and  Provision  Stores. 

2  Wholesale,      "  do.  do.    (one 

selling  $200,000  per  year.) 
4  General    Merchandise,    Stores. 

3  Stove  and  Tin,  do. 
2  Hardware,                            do. 
2  Furniture,  do. 


THE    HISTORY   OF   PERU.  73 

1  Leather  and  Finding,          do. 

1  Flour  and  Feed,  do. 

4  Drug  and  Book,  do. 

2  Tobacco,  do. 

7  Taverns,  (one  a  large  and  commodious  Ho- 
tel.) 

1  Gun  Shop. 
4:  Bakeries. 

3  Harness  and  Saddle  Shops. 

6  Shoe  Maker  Shops. 

5  Tailor  Shops. 

5  Blacksmith  and  Wagon  Maker  Shops. 

2  Cooper  Shops. 

4  Milliner  Shops. 

2  Banks. 

3  Private  Land  Offices. 

2  Livery  Stables. 

40  Lager  Beer  and  Drinking  Saloons. 
1  Daguerreian. 

5  Law  Offices. 

7  Physicians. 

3  Grain  and  Merchandise  Ware  Houses,  with 

a  united  capacity  of  about  200,000  bushels, 
besides  room  for  general  merchandise. 
1  Plow  Factory,  (employing  some  40  hands.) 


74  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

1  Match  Factory. 

1  Fanning  Mill  Factory. 

3  Breweries, 

1  Flouring  Mill. 

5  Lumber  Yards. 

1  Boat  Yard. 

The  central  engine  house  of  the  Chicago  and 
Rock  Island  Rail  Road  is  located  here.  As  the 
engines,  with  their  engineers  and  firemen,  are 
changed  here,  many  of  the  employees  are  domes- 
ticated. The  quantity  of  grain  purchased  direct 
from  the  producers,  and  shipped — exclusive  of 
that  purchased  by  the  mill — was  582,641  bushels 
in  185T,  against  about  900,000  bushels  in  1856. 
The  falling  off  is  attributable  to  the  reluctance  of 
the  farmers  to  market  their  grain  in  the  fall  of 
the  former  year,  as  before  mentioned. 

A  very  important  branch  of  business  pursued 
here  is  the  ice  trade.  About  13,000  tons  are  an- 
nually packed  for  the  southern  market,  giving  em- 
ployment to  about  three  hundred  men,  during  the 
Winter  and  Spring  in  packing  and  shipping,  and 
sixty  men  in  Summer  and  Fall,  in  building  boats 
and  other  preparations  for  the  next  winter's  busi- 
ness. Two  steamboats  are  owned  and  employed 
exclusively  in  the  trade, 


THE    HISTOBY    OF    PERU. 

75 

For  some  years,  attention  has  been  attracted  to 
the  Great  Central  Coal  Field  of  Illinois,  the 
north  eastern  rim  of  which  underlies  the  cities 
of  Peru  and  La  Salle.  From  the  earliest  settle- 
ment of  the  country  the  outcrops  have  been  re- 
sorted to  for  fuel.  More  and  more  extensive  ex- 
plorations and  excavations  have,  from  time  to 
time,  been  made,  excited  by  the  foresight,  sagaci- 
ty and  scientific  deductions  of  the  pioneer  of  that 
interest,  Dixwell  Lathrop,  Esq.  In  1855,  a 
thorough  examination  was  made  by  J.  G.  Nor- 
wood, State  Geologist,  which  demonstrated  the 
existence  of  three  veins  or  strata,  underlying  an 
area  of  about  500  square  miles.  These  veins  vary 
in  thickness,  from  three  and  a  half  to  seven  feet, 
the  central  being  the  thickest,  but  the  value  of  the 
coal  increasing  with  the  descent.  The  existence 
of  another  strata,  still  lower  and  still  better,  is 
presumed,  as  the  alluvial  formation,  or  coal  meas- 
ures, has  not  yet  been  passed  by  boring.  A  com- 
parison of  the  analysis  of  these  coals  with  those  of 
the  best  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  bituminous,  de- 
monstrated that  an  open  market  could  be  success- 
fully entered  in  competition.  Immediately  after- 
wards, operations  in  mining  were  commenced  on 


76  THK    HISTORY    OF   PERU. 

a  more  extensive  scale  and  more  scientific  princi- 
ples. 

Several  shafts  were  sunk  and  powerful  and  im- 
proved machinery  employed.  These  shafts  were 
sunk  in  and  near  La  Salle,  with  one  exception, 
which  was  in  the  westerly  part  of  Peru,  mime 
diately  on  the  river  bank,  and  on  the  track  of  the 
Chicago  and  Rock  Island  Rail  Road.  The  struc- 
tures, excavations,  machinery  and  outfits  of  the 
company  operating  this  shaft  are  of  the  most 
perfect  and  approved  kind.  Their  facilities  for 
raising  are  equal  to  three  hundred  tons  per  day. 
They  are  working  the  lower,  or  best  vein — four 
and  a-half  feet  thick — exclusively,  which  they 
have  reached  at  probably  its  greatest  depression, 
three  hundred  and  forty-six  feet  below  the  surface. 
Analysis  and  tests,  made  at  many  gas  works  and 
manufactories,  are  conclusive  in  establishing  the 
fact,  that  NO  COAL  HAS  YET  BEEN  RAISED,  WEST  OF 

OHIO  AND  NORTH  OF  THE  OHIO  RIVER,  WHICH  IS 
EQUAL  TO  THE  COAL  FROM  THIS  SHAFT,  lOR  THE 
AMOUNT  OF  STEAM  IT  WILL  GENERATE,  AND  FOR  ITS 
FREEDOM  FROM  SULPHUR  AND  TENDENCY  TO  CLINK- 
ER. What  is  true  of  this  shaft  is  true,  in  a  de- 
gree, of  the  coal  from  the  same  vein  from  the 


THE    HISTORY   OF   PERU.  77 

shafts  at  La  Salle,  the  difference  being  due  no 
doubt  to  its  greater  depression. 

The  importance  of  this  coal  field  to  the  interests 
of  Peru  and  La  Salle  can  scarcely  be  over  estima- 
ted. When  it  is  recollected  that  this  is  the  ex- 
treme northern  edge  of  the  Illinois  coal  fields  ; 
that  the  country  all  north,  to  the  forrests  of  north- 
ern Wisconsin,  is  but  sparscely  supplied  with  tim- 
ber, and  that  growing  "small  by  degrees  and 
beautifully  less ; "  that  this  country  is  already  in- 
terlaced with  Railroads,  all  having  a  connexion 
with  the  Illinois  Central,  upon  which  the  coal  can 
be  "  dumped  "  directly  from  the  mines  ;  that  the 
iron  mines  of  northern  Wisconsin  are  within 
easy  and  accessable  distance ;  and  that  the  locality 
itself  possesses  extraordinary  advantages  for  man- 
ufacturing; its  importance  can  be  but  partially 
comprehended. 

One  word  as  to  the  advantages  for  manufactur- 
ing. One  of  the  most  considerable  of  these  is 
the  cheapness,  excellency  and  unlimited  supply  of 
fuel.  To  this  must  be  added  the  acknowledged 
healthiness  of  the  locality  and  salubrity  of  cli- 
mate ;  and  the  facilities  for  drawing  supplies  and 
distributing  manufactures,  by  river,  canal  and 


78  THE    HISTORY    OF   PERT?. 

rail  road,  which  diverge  in  every  direction,  and 
penetrate  a  country  which,  for  hundreds  of  miles, 
has  a  greater  capacity  for  production,  and  conse- 
quently for  sustaining  population,  than  any  other 
country  of  the  same  extent  on  the  surface  of  the 
Globe.  Laborers,  mechanics  and  artizans  can  pur- 
chase the  same  degree  of  comfort  here  as  in  Chi- 
cago or  other  commercial  and  crowded  centers, 
where  of  necessity  rents  and  provisions  must  be 
high,  for  one  third  less  price.  This,  it  will  be  per- 
ceived, is  a  very  important  element  to  be  taken 
into  account.  It  would  seem  as  if  these  advan- 
tages, combined  with  other  and  important  ones 
not  enumerated,  would  soon  become  so  convinc- 
ing, as  to  make  resistance  to  the  establishment  of 
manufactories  much  longer  impossible. 

The  present  debt  of  the  City  of  Peru  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

Chicago  and  Eock  Island  Eail  Eoad  bonds,  40,000 
Market  House,  do.    12,600 

Current  expense  bonds  of  1855,  5,000 

Interest  bonds  voted  for  in  June,  5,000 

Outstanding  Scrip  (about,)  1,000 

Total,  $63,600 


THE   HISTORY   OF    PERU.  79 

There  is  enough  uncollected,  (or  in  the  officers 
hands)  revenue  of  the  year  1857,  which  is  reliable, 
to  pay  all  out  standing  scrip.  The  revenue  of 
last  year,  from  all  sources,  was  $8,582,34.  The 
whole  amount  of  taxable  property,  real  and  per- 
sonal, as  appears,  by  the  assessment  roll,  was 
$1,752,306.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  financial  con- 
dition of  the  city  is  by  no  means  desperate.  "When 
the  rail  road  sh  all  pay  its  dividends  regularly,  if 
the  issue  of  no  more  bonds  be  authorized,  and 
prudence  and  economy  are  observed  in  expendi- 
tures, no  difficulty  will  be  experienced  in  meeting 
all  engagements,  and  gradually  reducing  the 
debt. 

On  reviewing  the  census  and  other  statistics, 
connected  with  the  growth  and  present  and  pros- 
pective condition  of  the  city,  there  will  be  found 
no  cause  for  despondency  and  discouragement,  but 
much  for  congratulation  and  hope.  It  is  true  that 
no  such  rapid  increase  of  population  has  taken 
place  as  was  anticipated,  or  as  has  been  the  case 
in  some  other  western  towns.  But  there  has  been 
no  decrease,  even  temporary.  On  the  contrary, 
there  has  been  a  steady  and  gradual  increase  in 
population,  business  and  wealth,  from  the  recom- 


80  THE    HISTOBY    OF    PEKU. 

meiicement  of  the  work  of  building  the  canal  in 
1843,  to  the  present  time.  That  this  increase  has 
been  no  more  rapid,  may  be  accounted  for,  partial- 
ly by  the  influence  which  the  sudden  and  nearly 
simultaneous  construction  of  such  a  net  work  of 
rail  roads  as  covers  Illinois,  exerts  upon  all  inte- 
rior towns.  There  are  here  no  mountain  barriers 
to  obstruct  the  "construction  of  a  rail  road  in  any 
direction.  With  the  €  xception  of  the  C  entral,  they 
all  cross  the  State  from  east  to  west,  connecting 
the  Lakes  with  the  Mississippi,  and  run  without 
much  reference  to  the  location  of  existing  towns. 
The  consequence  has  been,  that  nearly  all  the 
towns  upon  the  river  have  had  their  trade  tem- 
poraily  diverted,  to  a  greater  or  lesser  extent ; 
and  "  prairie  towns  "  have  started  up,  to  compete 
for  the  trade,  at  almost  every  station.  These 
have  enjoyed  an  ephemeral  advantage,  from  their 
supposed  superior  healthiness.  That  this  is  a 
mistake,  the  mortality  oi  Peru,  as  exhibited  by  the 
census  table,  for  one  year,  185T, — which  is  a  fair 
average  of  every  year  except  those  when  the  chol- 
era prevailed — abundantly  shows.  That  these 
towns,  while  they  have  in  no  instance  wholly  stop- 
ed  the  increase  of  those  on  the  river,  but  only  divi- 


THE    HISTORY   OF   PERU.  81 

ded  their  natural  accessions,  will  shortly  react  up- 
on their  older  sisters,  and,  in  their  turn,  contribu- 
ted to  their  advancement  and  prosperity,  is  inevi- 
table. This  is  already  manifest  in  the  relation 
which  Peru  now  occupies  in  reference  to  Amboy, 
Sublette,  Mendota,  Arlington,  Tonica,  "Wenona, 
and  other  towns  on  the  Central,  Chicago  and 
Burlington,  and  Rock  Island  Kail  Roads,  none 
of  which  had  an  existence  before  the  roads  were 
projected.  That  this  is,  an4  must  continue  to  be 
the  case,  is  obvious  from  the  fact,  that  while  she 
has  all  the  advantages  of  rail  roads  which  any  of 
them  possess,  she  has  in  addition  the  superior 
facilities  which  the  river  and  canal  afford.  That 
considerable  accessions  to  her  population  have 
taken  place  the  present  season  is  proved  by  the 
fact,  that  only  fifteen  tenements,  little  and  big, 
are  vacant,  while  over  fifty  have  been  erected. — 
The  foreign  element  in  the  population,  it  will  be 
perceived,  is  quite  large.  This  is  the  case  with 
all  western  towns.  If,  from  the  number  set  down 
in  the  census  tables-  as  "born  in  the  United 
States,"  be  subtracted  the  number  "bora  of 
foreign  parents  and  counted  as  Americans,  "  there 
will  be  left  only  nine  hundred  and  seventy  two 


82  THE   HISTORY    OF   PERL'. 

who  are  Americans  by  birth  and  ancestry.  But 
the  amalgamation  of  interest  and  feeling  is  so 
complete,  that  society  moves  harmoniously,  and 
the  subject  of  nationality  is  but  little  thought  of. 
It  is  believed  that  the  mortality,  as  exhibited  by 
the  census  table,  is  unparalleled.  It  is  about  one 
and  one  third  per  cent,  of  the  population.  This 
result  has  been  obtained  by  enquiry  in  every 
family  and  can  be  relied  on  as  nearly  correct.  It 
includes  infants  and  adults,  and  those  who  have 
died  by  casualty,  as  well  as  by  disease.  It  is 
true  that  we  have  not  as  large  a  proportion  of 
old  persons,  whose  lives  are  terminating  in  their  na- 
tural order,  as  in  older  communities,  but  it  is  also 
true  that  we  have  a  larger  proportion  of  newly 
arrived  emigrants,  whose  health  is  influenced  by 
the  fatigue  and  exposure  of  protracted  voyages 
and  journeys,  and  by  a  change  of  climate  and 
habits.  By  a  comparison  with  other  towns  and 
cities,  and  with  the  entire  country,  it  will  be  per- 
ceived that  the  aggregate  mortality  is  remarkably 
low.  In  Boston,  according  to  the  report  of  the 
Sanitary  Commission,  for  a  period  of  nine  years, 
the  average  annual  mortality  was  2,53  per  cent ; 
in  New  York,  according  to  the  annual  report  of 


THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU.  O<5 

the  City  Inspector  in  1853,  it  was  4,4  per  cent ; 
in  Philadelphia,  according  to  the  report  of  the 
Board  of  Health  in  1850,  it  was  2,29  per  cent ; 
in  Baltimore,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Board 
of  Health  in  1850,  it  was  2,7  per  cent ;  in  Charles- 
ton, according  to  the  report  of  the  Board  of 
Health  in  1850,  it  was  1,99  per  cent ;  and  in  the 
United  States  in  1850,  according  to  the  census 
tables,  it  was  1,39.  So  it  will  be  seen,  that  the 
mortality  is  less,  if  the  year  selected  be  an  aver- 
age one,  than  it  is  in  either  of  the  above  cities,  or  in 
the  entire  country.  This  comparison,  it  is  hon- 
estly believed,  presents  a  fair  index  to  the  sanita- 
ry condition  of  the  city. 

Prominent  among  the  objects  which  challenge 
the  early  and  prompt  attention  of  the  citizens  of 
Peru,  is  the  subject  of  a  bridge  across  the  river, 
and  a  road  across  the  bottom  to  the  bluff,  upon 
which  passing  shall  at  all  times  be  practicable* 
The  trade  from  the  north  and  west  which  former- 
ly centered  here,  has  been  cut  off,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, by  the  Central,  and  Chicago  and  Burlington 
roads.  The  most  valuable  trade  which  remains 
is  that  from  the  south  side  of  the  river.  This  is 
sometimes  interrupted  for  months  together,  a* 


84  THE 'HISTORY    OF  TER1T. 

lias  been  the  case  the  present  season,  leaving 
merchants  to  look  despondingly  upon  their  crowd- 
ed shelves,  and  mechanics  to  stand  idle  in  their 
shops.  (Most  likely  they  console  themselves  at 
Kaiser's — but  this  is  not  to  be  printed.)  What 
means  shall  be  adopted  for  the  accomplishment 
of  this  object,  is  not  the  present  purpose  of  the 
writer  to  enquire.  But  that  some  plan  should 
be  devised  forthwith — always  excepting  running 
into  debt — is  too  apparent  to  admit  of  argument. 
There  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  the  energy, 
perseverance  and  financial  skill  of  the  present 
Mayor,  John  L.  McCormick,  Esq.,  who  is  the  de- 
voted and  zealous  champion  of  the  work,  will  tri- 
umph over  all  difficulties. 

We  have  now  looked  at  the  past  and  present. 
What  of  the  future  ?  "Will  the  magnificent  pre- 
tensions of  the  "  Head  of  Navigation  "  dwindle 
into  thin  air  ?  Will  the  metropolitan  airs  which 
she  assumed  and  flaunted  before  the  eyes  of  envi- 
ous rivals  degenerate  into  the  abject  cringing  of 
the  vanquished  and  crest  fallen  braggart?  Will 
the  notes  of  arrogance  and  defiance  which  rung 
ont  upon  the  tympanum  of  an  admiring  world 
subside  into  the  moaniners  and  nnittcrinsrs  of  im- 


TEE  HISTORY   OF   PERU.  85 

becility  and  dotage  ?  Will  the  hum  of  trade  and 
industry  be  hushed  in  her  streets,  and  be  super- 
ceded  by  the  fluttering  of  bats  and  the  hootings  of 
owls  ?  Or  will  she  decline  into  a  quiet  subur- 
ban appendage  of  her  more  fortunate  and  energet- 
ic rival  ?  Or  will  both  places  languish  in  prema- 
ture decay,  while  neighboring  towns  stride  on- 
wards in  their  march  to  greatness  ?  Will  the 
manufacture  of  inordinate  quantities  of  gas  con- 
tinue to  be  necessary  to  remind  the  world  of  their 
existence  ?  These  are  questions  that  must  be  an- 
swered by  their  own  citizens.  Certain  it  is,  that  if 
they  properly  appreciate  and  energetically  grasp 
the  advantages  which  nature,  and  a  rare  combi- 
nation of  external  circumstances  have  placed 
within  their  reach,  it  will  be  a  long  time  before 
the  antiquarian  wrill  have  to  grope  through  super- 
incumbent accumulations  for  evidence  of  their 
previous  existence.  ISTot  merely  by  the  exchange 
and  transhipment  of  merchandise  ;  not  merely  by 
hotels,  lager  beer  saloons,  banking  and  exchange 
offices,  and  houses  and  places  of  refreshment  and 
amusement,  although  they  may  be  all  prefixed 
with  the  word  "  city,  "  can  the  destiny  which  is 
their  inheritance  and  birthright  be  obtained.  An 


86  THE    HISTORY    OF 


intelligent  and  productive  aggregation  of  bones, 
sinews  and  brains  must  be  domesticated  upon 
the  spot,  whose  presence  and  influence  will  re-act, 
with  beneficent  results,  upon  each  and  every  lauda- 
ble interest  and  enterprise.  No  folly  or  madness 
can  be  more  extreme,  than  that  of  those  who  think 
they  can  sit  down  with  folded  arms,  and  realize 
dreams  of  fortunes  to  be  made  through  enhanc- 
ed corner  lots. 

We  have  glanced  at  the  material  and  political 
commencement,  progress  and  prospects  of  Peru. 
Let  us  look  at  the  moral  and  intellectual  phases 
of  her  existance. 

Among  her  early  settlers  were  many  families 
cf  high  culture,  refinement,  social  condition^  and 
moral  standing.  Of  these  were  the  families  of 
George  B.  Martin/  II.  L.  Kinney,  S.  Lisle  Smith, 
D.  J.  Townsend,  Win.  II.  Davis,  Fletcher  Web- 
ster, George  W.IIolley,  Lucius  Pearl,  II.  P.  Wood- 
worth,  W.  B.  Burnett,  Gen.  Kansom  &c.  Sel- 
dom has  a  new,  obscure,  western  settlement, 
whose  inhabitants  were  thrown  together  by 
chance,  gathered  so  brilliant  specimens  of  eastern 
intelligence  and  civilization.  There  was  an  un- 
der strata,  however,  which  by  no  means  tends  to 


THE   HISTORY    OF   PERI?.  87 

brighten  the  reminiscence.  The  idlers,  adventur- 
ers and  vagabonds,  who  follow  public  works  in 
new  countries,  and  who  congregate  at  the  termi- 
nation of  navigation,  made  a  rendezvous  here. 
Peru,  as  ought  to  have  been  mentioned  before,  is 
broken  by  a  precipitous  bluff  nearly  an  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  high.  On  a  narrow  strip  between 
this  and  the  river  is  a  single  street,  upon  which 
most  of  the  stores,  warehouses  and  shops  are  situ- 
ated, in  the  rear  of  which  runs  the  rail  road. — 
Most  of  the  dwellings  are  on  the  bluff,  upon  a 
plane  inclining  towards  the  river  and  somewhat 
broken  with  ravines.  Formerly,  as  now,  the  street 
under  the  bluff  was  generally  avoided  as  a  resi- 
dence by  the  more  orderly  and  quiet  citizens.  This 
became  the  rendezvous  of  all  the  congregated 
rowdies  and  ruffians.  In  the  night  it  was  almost 
entirely  given  up  to  them.  Orgies  and  revelry 
were  always  in  order.  As  this  part  of  the  town 
was,  and  has  continued  to  be  the  most  visited  by 
strangers,  the  steamboats  landing  in  front  then, 
and  the  rail  road  running  through  the  rear  now, 
the  fame  of  its  doings  soon  spread  throughout  all 
flie  land.  The  reputation,  thus  acquired,  clung 
to  it ;  and  while  no  place  has  had  a  larger  pro- 


88  THE   HISTORY   OF   PERtf. 

portion  of  quiet,  orderly,  intelligent  and  refined 
citizens,  110  place  has  had  a  more  unenviable  rep- 
utation, unless  it  be  the  sister  town  of  La  Salle. 
So  true  is  it  that  the  fame  of  bad  deeds  travels 
further  and  faster  than  good  ones,  the  writer, 
when  abroad,  on  informing  a  stranger  that  he  was 
from  Peru,  has  observed  that  stranger  involunta- 
rily button  up  his  pockets  and  move  out  of  the 
neighborhood.  "What  reason  exists  for  this  feeling 
may  be  seen  from  the  fact,  that  during  the  whole 
period  of  the  town's  history,  no  riots  ;  no  fights, 
resulting  in  death  or  severe  bodily  injury  with 
one  exception,  and  that  among  a  party  none  of 
which  ever  lived  in  the  town ;  no  robbery ; 
and  but  few  cases  of  burglary  or  larceny  have 
occurred.  ~No  night  police  has  ever  been  found 
necessary  except  at  brief  and  distant  periods. — 
Schools  and  churches  have  received  constant  at- 
tention and  liberal  encouragement.  If  the  order 
and  external  sanctity  of  an  interior  New  Eng- 
land town  do  not  prevail,  the  difference  in  our 
circumstances,  situation  and  history  must  be  re- 
collected ;  and  that  these  are  not  the  tests  of  mor- 
ality all  over  the  world. 
Few  among  the  citizens  have  yet  found  leisure 


THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU.  89 

to  devote  themselves  to  intellectual  pursuits,  yet 
it  is  believed  that  the  clergymen,  lawyers,  doctors, 
merchants  &c.,  have  exhibited  ability  and  attain- 
ments equal  to  those  of  their  class  in  other  local 
ities. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Western  Towns — Surrounding  Country — Scene 
as  viewed  from  the  Chamber's  House — Salu- 
brity of  the  Climate — Water — Soil — Markets 
Roads — Hogs  and  Cattle — Dairies — Sheep — 
Grass  fatted  meat — Horses — Choice  of  Markets 
— Scarcity  of  Timber — Morals  and  Society — 
Former  difficulties  of  the  Emigrant — Present 
Condition. 

What  ambitious  communities  these  western 
towns  are,  to  be  sure !  How  they  do  chirp  when 
they  once  get  their  bills  through  the  shell,  and 
while  the  greater  portion  yet  adheres  to  their 
backs  !  What  laughable  contortions  they  make 
in  their  efforts  to  crow,  strut  and  clap  their  wings ! 
Eastern  people  must  understand  that  there  are  no 
villages  in  the  West.  Every  aggregation  of  a 
half  dozen  houses,  a  blacksmith  shop  and  tavern 
is  a  city,  and  their  name  is  Legion.  A  meeting 
house  and  school  house — so  necessary  in  the  East 
to  constitute  a  village — are  not  necessary  appcn- 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PEKTJ.  91 

dages  of  a  city  in  the  West.  Clapboard  shells, 
with  their  gables  to  the  street,  embellished  with 
square  battlements  to  the  ridge,  are  emblazoned 
with  "City  Drug  Store,  "  City  Saloon,  "  "  City 
Hard  Ware  Store,  "  &c.  There  are  "first  class, 
hotels, "  too,  between  which  and  the  rail  road 
depot,  gorgeous  omnibusses  run.  "When  the  cars 
stop,  what  a  din  the  runners  set  up  of  "  Metropo- 
litan Hotel, "  "  St.  Nicholas, "  "  Eeviere  House, " 
"  St.  Charles, "  &c.  Wo,  to  the  unlucky  travel- 
er who  falls  into  their  clutches.  He  will  find 
when  he  comes  to  settle  his  bill,  that  in  respect  to 
charges,  they  are  determined  to  do  no  discredit  to 
their  sea  board  prototypes. 

Here  and  there,  one  of  these  clapboards  "  cities  " 
emerge  into  one  of  brick  and  stone.  Then  three, 
four  and  five  story  structures  rise  like  an  exhah\- 
tion.  Enormous  turrets,  bay  windows,  lofty  ceil-, 
ings,  gold  and  vermillion,  marble,  iron  and  gew- 
guws,  without  end,  without  order,  without  taste, 
and  without  regard  to  adaptability,  business  or 
convenience  meet  the  eye  on  every  side.  Plate 
glass  windows  disclose  a  profusion  of  costly  and 
variagated  wares  and  merchandise,  and  enormous 
mirrors  entice  unsophisticated  rustic*  down  end- 


THE   I1ISTOEY    OF   PERU. 

less  avenues.  Turning  your  eye  upwards  along 
these  aspiring  structures,  you  behold  broken  win- 
dows and  other  evidences  of  dilapidation,  deno- 
ting the  utter  uselessness  of  these  lofty-creations; 
and  your  amazement  is  no  way  lessened  when 
you  learn,  that  from  twelve  to  twenty  per  cent, 
interest  is  paid  for  the  money  to  erect  them,  se- 
cured by  trust  deeds  upon  the  building  itself,  up- 
051  "  out  lots,  "  and  upon  broad  acres  of  "wild 
lands.  "  Then  what  palatial  residences  are  rear- 
ed in  the  suburbs  !  Palaces,  cottages,  temples, 
pavilions,  pagodas  and  mosques  adorn  valley  and 
hill  top.  Domes,  steeples,  spires,  turrets  and  mina- 
rets, gleam  in  the  sun  light,  peer  out  of  clumps  of 
foliage,  and  struggle  upwards  at  every  unexpected 
point.  Porticos,verandas,  observatories  pillars,  are 
here,  there,  everywhere,  in  endless  profusion. — 
Tuscan,  Doric,  Ionic,  Corinthian,  Composite, 
Gothic  and  Yankee  architecture  are  every  where 
attempted,  sometimes  several  of  them  on  the  same 
building,  and  sometimes  all  jumbled  together. — 
Around  them  are  close  shaven  lawns,  graveled 
walks,  arbors,  climbing  vines,  summer  houses, 
green  houses,  and  flower  plats,  all  under  the  care 
of  one,  two,  three  or  more  Patricks.  "Within,  fres- 


THE   HISTORY   OF   PERIT.  93 

cos  and  gilding,  paint  and  upholstery,  marble  and 
porcelain,  rose  wood  and :  mahogony  vie,  in 
their  power  to  please,  with  magnificent  toil- 
ets and  languid  ladies.  Carriages,  drawn  by 
thousand  dollar  bays,  groome.d  by  blue  coat- 
ed Hibernians,  flash  upon  the  vision  like  the 
gleam  of  a  meteor.  But  alas,  for  the  inevitable 
revulsion  !  Down  on  the  "  business  street,  "  in 
front  of  premises  where  deposits  are  received  and 
ten  or  fifteen  per  cent,  interest  allowed  thereon, 
and  exchange  is  sold  on  all  eastern  and  European 
cities,  a  motley  crowd  of  anxious  and  excited 
people — merchants,  farmers,  mechanics,  seam- 
streses,  laundresses,  draymen,  and  laborers — are 
assembled  What  brings  thorn  there  ?  Why,  Mess- 
rs. Dash  &  Splurge  have  "suspended'' — that's  all. 
What  weasen-faced,  moustaehioued  abortion  is 
that  who  declares  upon  "  his  honaw,  the  place  is 
almost  equal  to  ISTew  Yawk. "  Why,  that's  Mr. 
Hound,  junior  partner  in  the  eminent  firm  of 
De  Laine,  Brocade  &  Co.,  of  New  York.  He  is 
the  same  individual  whose- acquaintance  we  made 
six  or  eight  months  ago,  when  he  visited  this  lo- 
cality and  was  introduced  to  us  as  Mr.  Drum- 
mer. What  a  capital  fellow  he  was !  How  bland !  - 


•94 


How  civil !  How  polite !  How  lie  amused  us 
with  stories  of  the  splendor  and  grandeur  of  the 
metropolis !  How  delightfully  he  sang !  "What 
a  superb  game  of  billards  he  played !  How  he 
insisted  upon  paying  for  all  the  Hiedsieck!  Who 
would  have  expected  to  see  him  transformed  into 
the  morose,  sinister,  vindictive  looking  personage 
which  he  now  appears  ?  "Who  would  have  ex- 
.pected  to  see  hi$  jocund,  rounded  physiognomy, 
where  a  bland  and  perpetual  smile  sat  enthroned, 
distorted  into  a  shape  as  angular  as  a  problem  in 
Euclid  ?  We  find,  on  enquiry,  that  his  present 
business  here  is  to  look  after  a  little  matter  be- 
tween his  house  and  one  of  our  leading  firms  who 
have  also  "  suspended.  "  He  made  the  acquain- 
tance of  this  firm  on  his  late  visit,  took  tea  at  the 
house  of  one  of  them,  sang  an  accompaniment 
to  the  piano  with  the  daughters,  bade  them  adieu 
with  his  hand  on  his  heart,  took  a  lunch  and  a 
"  smash  "  with  the  "old  man"  at  the  "saloon,"  and 
left  with  a  long  order  for  silks,  calicos,  &c.  Mr. 
De  Laine,  the  head  of  the  house,  being  a  little 
more  cautious,  consulted  the  Commercial  Agency 
and  found  them  set  down  as  "  reliable — rather 
extravagant  in  living^  indulge  a  little  in  horse  rac- 


THE    HISTORY   OF   PEKU. 

ing,  but  generally  attentive  to  business, "  and  con- 
cluded that  it  was  "  all  right.  "  Hound  finds  it 
"  aint  all  right.  "  Mother-in-law  owns  the  house, 
furniture,  horses  and  carriage ;  brothers  are  pre- 
ferred creditors  ;  clerks  and  servants  are  charged 
with  the  collection  of  debts,  from  the  proceeds  of 
which  they  are  to  retain  arrerages  due  them  for 
wages  ;  and  the  landlord  has  sued  out  a  distress, 
and  home  creditors  an  attachment,  which  will  sure- 
ly cover  every  thing,  should  there  be  any  little  flaws 
in  the  assignment.  Hound  comes  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  he  is  taken  in — sold — clone — and  that 
it  will  not  pay  even  to  employ  a  lawyer  in  the 
premises.  In  fact,  his  settled  conviction  is  that 
there  is  a  collusion  between  all  the  residents  of 
this  portion  of  the  Earth,  and  that  he  will  not 
trust  any  of  them  again — never. 

The  writer  hopes  that  he  will  not  be  understood 
as  attempting  to  ridicule  western  towns,  as  a 
whole,  or  to  throw  discredit  upon  western  mer- 
chants and  bankers,  as  a  class.  Thriving  villages 
are  springing  up  all  over  the  country,  and  many 
towns  and  cities  are  great  centers  of  trade,  justly 
depending  for  their  future  advancement  upon 
their  great  advantages  for  interior  commuiuca- 


9*6  THE   HISTOKY   OF 


tion,  upon  the  matcliless  wealth  of  the  soil,  and 
upon  the  enlightened  enterprise  of  their  citizens, 
The  merchants,  bankers  and  real  estate  owners, 
are,  as  a  class,  shrewd  and  intelligent  men,  hold- 
ing their  credit  and  characters  sacred  and  inviol 
able,  and  many  families  live  in  elegant  luxury, 
fully  justified  by  a  permanent  and  reliable  in- 
come. Many,  here  as  elsewhere,  have  been  over- 
taken by  the  recent  monetary  calamities,  and  are 
suffering  from  causes  which  ,  ordinary  foresight 
could  not  have  foreseen. 

But  whatever  may  be  -thought  of  the  advanta- 
ges offered  by  the  towns  of  Peru  and  La  Salle  — 
for  their  destiny  is  one  —  for  settlement  and  the 
investment  of  capital,  there  can  be  no  doubt  about 
the  inducements  presented  to  farmers  and  others 
by  the  surrounding  country.  The  climate  is  gen- 
ial and  "salubrious,  the  atmosphere  invigorating 
and  free  from  miasma,  and  the  scenery  delightful 
—  alternating  from  green  and  billowy  swells  of 
prairie,  varied  by  cultivation  and  improvement, 
to  wild  and  romantic  dell's  and  ravines.  Looking 
eastward  up  the  valley  of  the  Illinois  from  the 
observatory  on  the  Chamber's  House,  no  lovelier 
scene  can  be  presented.  The  fair  and  beautiiiil 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PEKU.  97 

city  of  La  Salle,  joined  to  her  westerly  neighbor 
by  continuous  streets  and  structures  ;  the  graceful 
spire  of  her  cathedral  rising  clear  and  sharp 
against  the  sky ;  the  wooded  outline  of  the  Little 
Vermillion,  indicating  its  sinuous  course  north- 
ward until  lost  in  the  blue  haze  of  the  distance ;  the 
cultivated  fields,  yellow  with  waving  wheat  and 
oats,  or  dark  with  luxuriant  corn ;  the  quiet  farm 
houses  nestling  in  their  bowers  of  foliage — homes 
of  those  whose  "lines  have  fallen  in  pleasant 
places  " — the  verdant  and  undulating  stretch  of 
prairie  bounding  the  vision  as  the  waters  do  upon 
the  ocean ;  the  delicate  tracery  of  the  Central 
Rail  Road  bridge,  spanning  the  broad  chasm  of 
the  Illinois  from  bluff  to  bluff,  nearly  a  mile  in 
length ;  the  silvery  thread  of  the  riverj  now 
hid  by  majestic  elms  and  cotton  woods,  now  di- 
vided by  islands,  and  now  gleaming  in  sun  light, 
in  the  far  distance ;  the  jagged  sand  stone  ram- 
parts of  the  southern  shore,  in  some  places  rear- 
ing their  perpendicular  sides  more  than  an  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  waters  that  lave  their  base ;  the 
rounded  and  cone  like  tower  of  Buffalo  Rock, 
rising  abrupt  and  isolated  from  the  valley  below 
— all  present  a  panorama  of  exceeding  beauty 


98  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

and  loveliness.  Unlike  some  other  landscapes,  fair 
and  pleasing  to  the  eye,  no  deadly  or  unwhole- 
some exhalations  arise  from  the  dank  and  luxu- 
riant vegetation.  The  breezes  which  fan  this 
scene  come  laden  with  health  and  exhilaration, 
pure  as  the  icy  breath  of  the  Arctic  Sea.  No 
portion  of  the  United  States  is  more  favorable  to 
health  than  the  counties  of  La  Salle,  Bureau  and 
Putnam.  No  means  are  at  hand  to  enable  a  pos- 
itive statement  concerning  the  mortality  of  these 
counties  to  be  made,  but  observation  from  almost 
their  earliest  settlement,  and  a  residence  in  many 
other  different  localities,  justify  the  assertion  that 
it  will  fall  short  of  most  portions  of  New  York, 
Pennsylvania  or  New  England.  It  is  true  that  in 
the  early  settlement,  bilious  fevers,  of  a  mild 
form,  rarely  resulting  in  death,  prevailed  to  some 
extent,  as  they  have  in  the  early  settlement  of  all 
parts  of  the  country.  These  have  almost  entire- 
ly disappeared,  and  have  not  been  succeeded  by 
the  more  acute  forms  of  disease,  as  has  been  the 
case  in  other  localities.  The  climate  is  particu- 
larly favorable  to  recovery  from  all  complaints  of 
a  pulmonary  character.  Consumption  —  the 
scourge  of  New  England — hardly  exists  here. — 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERT?.  99 

No  doubt  but  that  in  a  few  generations,  it  will  be 
eradicated  from  families  where  it  is  hereditary. 
~No  nepenthe  can  reconstruct  the  consumed,  vital, 
human  organ ;  but  it  is  believed  that  where  no 
considerable  inroads  have  been  made,  a  residence 
here,  with  proper  precautions,  will  do  much  to- 
wards staying,  if  it  does  not  completely  baffle  the 
destroyer.  It  is  also  true  that  the  country  did  not 
escape  the  ravages  of  the  cholera.  What  coun- 
try did?  A  few  elevated,  mountainous  regions 
may  have  enjoyed  immunity  from  that  slow,  nev- 
er wearied,  implacable  traveller,  who  comes  as 
the  wind  comes  and  "  bloweth  where  it  listeth, 
and  thou  hearest  the  sounds  thereof,  and  canst 
not  tell  whither  it  cometh,  and  where  it  go- 
eth. » 

Water,  pure,  clear  and  cold,  is  everywhere 
found  trickling  through  the  subforination  of  grav- 
el, at  a  depth  of  from  twenty  to  forty  feet.  It  is 
generally  slightly  impregnated  with  lime,  but 
otherwise  holds  but  little  mineral  in  solution. — 
Many  of  the  early  cases  of  fever  and  ague  were 
no  doubt  to  be  attributed  to  the  necessity  which 
compelled  the  settlers  to  content  themselves  with 
the  surface  water,  putrid  with  decaying  vegetable 


100  THE    HISTORY    OF   PERXT. 

matter,  to  be  found  at  a  short  distance  below  the 
surface  in  sloughs  and  other  depressions  Run- 
ning streams  are  not  infrequent,  though  not  so 
common,  as  in  hilly  and  mountainous  regions. 

The  soil.  What  shall  be  said  of  it  if  The  Del- 
ta of  the  Nile,  in  its  original  opulence,  was  not 
more  fertile.  It  consists  of  a  rich,  black,  vegetable 
mould,  from  one  to  six  feet  in  depth,  resting  upon 
a  sub-soil  of  stiff-  clay.  Its  surface  has  as  yet 
been  only  scratched.  When  this  shall  be  expen- 
ded, the  wealth  below  can  be  brought  to  light  Vy 
the  sub-soil  plow,  an  instrument  as  unfamiliar 
here  as  the  Koo-i-noor.  An  intelligent  farmer  in 
La  Salle  County — an  old  resident — has  been  ex- 
perimenting upon  a  piece  of  land  of  a  few  acres, 
by  planting  and  harvesting  a  succession  of  corn 
crops,  without  fertilizers,  for  a  series  of  years. — 
As  yet  he  has  found  no  diminution  of  yield.  All 
the  cerials,  fruits  and  esculent  roots,  adapted  to  the 
climate,  produce  in  perfection  and  abundance.— 
Winter  blight  and  rust  are  incident  to  wheat  cul- 
ture every  where,  here  as  well  as  in  other  sections; 
but  insects — the  grasshopper,  army  worm,  midge 
and  weavel — have  never  yet  made  their  appear- 
anoe.  The  corn  crop  never  fails.  In  two  seasons 


THE   HISTORY   OF   PEEF.  101 

out  of  the  last  twenty,  a  slight  diminution  of 
yield  occurred — in  one  year  by  protracted  rains 
preserving  the  esculency  of  the  plant  until  the 
season  of  frost,  and  in  another  by  drought. — 
"With  these  exceptions,  it  has  grown  and  ripened 
in  all  its  perfection.  Of  course,  crops  are  "short" 
with  some  people  always.  The  Hibernian  said 
that  he  believed  that  "  if  the  steamboat  never 
sailed  somebody  would  be  left ;"  so  if  the  frost 
never  comes,  somebody's  corn  will  be  caught.  So, 
too,  the  disposition  among  farmers  to  complain  of 
short  crops  is  chronic,  here  as  elsewhere.  If  the 
statistics,  gathered  by  means  of  agricultural  fairs 
or  otherwise,  do  not  exhibit  so  large  yields  per 
acre,  as  in  places  where  land  is  dearer,  it  must  be 
recollected  that  cultivation  is  as  yet  conducted 
only  in  a  very  rude  manner.  No  application  to 
the  soil  of  materials  whereof  it  is  deficient,  for  the 
production  of  certain  crops,  was  ever  dreamed 
of.  None  of  the  high  cultivation,  adopted  where 
that  practice  is  a  necessity,  is  ever  resorted  to. 

No  portions  of  the  three  counties  named  are 
more  than  ten  miles  distant  from  some  rail  road 
station,  or  river,  or  canal  landing,  at  all  of  which 
a  cash  market  is  found  for  every  kind  of  farm 


102  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

produce,  and  a  supply  of  all  kinds  of  "store 
goods  "  is  for  sale.  Leading  to  these  are  roads 
whereon  the  low  places  have  been  turnpiked,  and 
the  sloughs  and  streams  bridged,  and  which,  if  not 
so  solid  and  smooth,  in  wet  weather,  as  those  over 
the  flinty  or  gravelly  soil  of  some  portions  of  the 
eastern  States,  are  infinitely  superior  to  those 
corduroy  affairs,  running  through  the  timbered  re- 
gions of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michigan.  In  dry 
weather,  no  McAdam,  no  pavement,  no  Imperial 
causeway  is  so  smooth,  so  even,  so  easy,  so  noise- 
less as  the  slightly  elastic  prairie  road  bed.  Talk 
of  two-forty  on  the  Avenue !  A  natural  prairie 
road  is  the  paradise  of  Jehus. 

Horses,  cattle,  hogs — those  whales  of  the  prai- 
ries— sheep  and  fowls  thrive  and  are  profitable. 
The  high  price  and  great  average  yield  of  grain 
have,  of  late  years,  induced  farmers,  to  a  great 
degree,  to  neglect  the  dairy.  The  ruling  price 
of  cheese,  in  the  towns,  for  several  years  past  has 
been  from  ten  to  fifteen  cents,  and  of  butter  from 
fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents  per  pound.  Think  of 
that,  you  dairymen  and  dairywomen  of  the  Wes- 
tern Reserve,  New  York  and  New  England  ! — 
Cows,  grazing  through  the  long  summer  upon 


HISTORY    OF   PEKTT.  103 


common  prairie  pasture,  and  requiring  to  be  fed 
only  through  the  short  winter,  and  the  product  of 
their  udders  bringing  those  prices  at  your  doors  ! 
Wool  growing,  too,  for  the  same  reason  has  been 
neglected.  ~No  country  offers  greater  induce- 
ments to  raise  sheep,  were  it  not  for  the  gangs  of 
worthless  dogs  which  most  farmers  persist  in'keep- 
ing.  The  carcases  were  formerly  of  but  little 
value.  Now  the  cost  of  getting  them  to  -  the 
great  eastern  markets  is  so  small,  that  for  that  pui^. 
pose  alone  their  production  would  be  profitable. 
What  delicious  lamb,  mutton  and  beef  grace  our 
market  stalls  !  How  hidden  and  buried  are  the 
kidneys  beneath  the  white,  thick,  oleaginous  cov- 
ering !  How  the  layers  of  fat  and  lean  alternate 
through  rib  and  sirloin  !  How  the  rich  juices  fol- 
low the  carving  knife  as  it  slides,  almost  of  its 
own  weight,  through  the  roasted  haunch  !  Oh, 
you  benighted  Yegitarians  !  Have  you  no  music 
in  your  souls  ?  Do  no  involuntary  drops  ooze 
from  the  caverns  of  your  mouths,  as  you  contem- 
plate the  gastronomic  treasure,  and  inhale  the 
rich  fragrance  which  rises  like  a  halo  ?  Oh,  you 
unfortunate  denizens  of  inland  eastern  towns, 
who  are  compelled  to  essay  mastication  upon  the 


104 


THE    HISTORY    OF 


blue,  stringy,  tenacious  substance  which  you  call 
butchers  meat  !  What  wonder  that  the  dental 
art  flourishes  in  your  vicinity  !  How  would  you 
like  to  luxuriate  upon  these  grass-fed  fatlinge 
of  the  prairie  ? 

The  average  estimate  of  a  large  number  of  in- 
telligent farmers  is  that  it  costs  about  thirty  -five 
dollars  to  raise  a  colt  to  the  age  of  four  years.  For 
years  past  the  price  of  a  good  work  colt,  at  that 
age,  has  been  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

The  choice  of  markets,  enjoyed  by  agricultur- 
ists here,  is  of  great  advantage.  It  often  happens 
that  the  eastern  markets  are  depressed  while  the 
southern  markets  are  buoyant,  and  vice  versa.  — 
The  location  upon  the  navigable  waters  of  a  trib- 
utary of  the  Mississippi,  and  upon  the  canal  con- 
necting with  the  Lakes,  gives  a  valuable  option 
to  farmers. 

One  great  bug  bear  of  the  prairies  was  former- 
ly the  scarcity  of  timber.  The  early  settlers 
skirted  with  their  farms  and  homesteads  the  bor- 
ders of  timber,  and  deemed  the  central  parts  of 
the  prairie  as  valueless  as  an  African  desert.  Ex- 
perience has  shown  that  these  are  the  most  valu- 
able lands,  and  that  no  serious  inconvenience  'is 


THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU.  105 

felt  on  account  of  remoteness  from  timber.  Lum- 
ber from  Michigan,  transported  by  canal  or  rail 
road,  is  cheaper  for  fencing  than  rails,  though  the 
timber  were  at  hand.  Wire  is  also  used  to  con- 
siderable extent.  The  abundance,  cheapness, 
contiguity,  and  excellent  quality  of  the  bitumin- 
ous coal,  underlying  portions  of  all  three  of 
these  counties,  obviate  all  necessity  of  wood  for 
fuel. 

Society  is  already  established  and  settled,  as  in 
older  communities.  The  present  race  of  farmers 
is  as  intelligent  and  enterprising,  as  a  class,  as 
those  of  the  eastern  States.  The  tone  of  morals 
and  integrity  is  as  high  as  elsewhere.  Schools 
are  everywhere  sustained  and  fostered,  and  are 
no  where  so  remote  as  to  render  their  advantages 
unavailable.  Churches,  of  all  the  several  Chris- 
tian denominations,  are  in  reasonable  proximity. 
The  price  of  land  varies  from  five  to  fifty  dollars 
per  acre. 

What  a  difference  in  the  condition  of  the  emi- 
grant farmer  now  and  twenty  years  ago !  Then, 
having  bade  good  bye  to  the  home  and  scenes 
of  his  childhood,  having  sold  a  portion  and  pack- 
ed a  portion  of  his  household  goods,  and  having 


106  THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU. 

exchanged  the  last   sad  and  faltering  salutations 
with  kindred   and  early  and  life  long  friends — 
each  believing  that  never  more  on   earth   should 
they  meet — with  wife    and  children  who  tore 
themselves  reluctantly  from  each  cherished  face 
and  object,  he  set  his  face  towards  the  setting  sun. 
A  long  and  tedious  journey  by  land,  through  pri- 
meval    forests ;    over    gullied   and  precipitous 
roads  and  paths  ;  across  bog,  and  morass,  and  fen, 
and  unbridgcd  torrents,  and  dreary  wastes  of  sand, 
and  scarcely  less  desolate  prairie  ;  with  wearied 
and  jaded  animals,  and  lagging  and  loitering  gait; 
camping  out  by  night  and  pacing  through  its  long 
watches,  by  turns,  as  sentries  ;   or  by  canal  boat, 
steamboat,  stage  and  wagon,  at  length  termina- 
ted in  a  bleak  and  lonely  prairie.     Miles  across 
an  ocean  of  verdure   or  a  charred  and  blackened 
waste,  as  the  season  was  summer  or  late  autumn, 
glistened  the  roof  of  a  settlers   cabin  ;  or  if  this 
were  hidden  by  the  swells  of  prairie   or  the  con- 
vexity of  the  earth,  rose  a  small,  faint  column  of 
smoke  against  the  sky.     Away  on  the  furtherest 
verge  of  vision  stretched  a  blue   and  indistinct 
thread,  like  the  first  glimpse  of  coastline,  as  caught 
from  the  deck  of  a  vessel  at  sea.  This  was  the  tim« 


THE    HISTOKY    OF    PEKU.  107 

ber  which  skirted  some  distant  water  course.  No 
other  object  relieved  the  eye,  as  it  wandered 
around  the  circle.  The  loneliness  of  ocean — the 
wearisome  expanse  of  sea  and  sky — had  here  its 
counterpart.  The  few  articles  of  furniture  and 
clothing,  of  prime  necessity,  were  hastily  un- 
packed ;  a  rude  and  uncomfortable  domicil  was 
extemporized ;  a  stable,  covered  with  long  grass, 
to  shelter  a  horse  and  cow,  was  erected ;  and  a 
hole  was  dug  in  the  nearest  slough,  whence  was 
obtained  a  limited  supply  of  dirty  and  impure 
water.  These  were  the  comforts  and  accessories 
which  welcomed  the  early  emigrant.  No  run- 
ning brooks,  no  trees,  no  shade,  no  merry  chil- 
dren frolicking  to  school,  no  music  of  Church 
bells,  no  decorous  and  well  dressed  people,  wend- 
ing their  way  to  the  edifice,  where  the  organ's  di- 
apason and  the  solemn  chant,  in  memory,  rose 
with  their  stately  swell,  no  cheerful  faces  of 
neighbors  and  friends,  no  kind  voices  to  con- 
gratulate in  good  fortune  and  console  in  bad,  sur- 
rounded and  cheered  the  saddened  pilgrims. 
Soon,  fatigue,  exposure,  privations,  bad  water,  -un- 
wholesome diet,  repining  and  discontent  brought 
on  the  inevitable  "  ager.  "  Doctors,  calomel,  cpii- 


108  THE    HISTORY    OF   PJBRtf. 

nine,  yellow  and  jaundiced  faces,  emaciated  forms, 
broken  spirits  and  general  misery  followed. 

Twenty  years  !  Presto,  wliat  a  change  !  Rip 
Yan  Winkle  has  awoke !  "Where  stood  the  lone- 
ly hovel,  now  stands  the  commodious  and  com- 
fortable farm  house.  Orchards,  barns,  granaries, 
flowers,  luxuriant  foliage,  pure  water,  broad  fields 
of  grain  and  grass,  lowing  herds,  good  roads, 
schools,  churches,  neighbors,  friends,  cheerful  and 
smiling  faces,  happiness  and  contentment  have 
replaced  the  former  surroundings.  The  poor  and 
dejected  emigrant  is  now  the  independent  pos- 
sessor of  a  domain  a  prince  might  envy.  The 
disconsolate  and  almost  broken  hearted  mother 
who,  during  long  and  weary  days  and  nights,  in 
solitude  and  loneliness,  watched  and  nursed  her 
puny  and  sickly  brood,  is  now  the  happy,  come- 
ly and  dignified  matron,  whose  children  and 
grand-children  are  clustered  around  her.  The 
friends  an'd  kindred  with  whom  she  parted  so 
sorrowfully  twenty  years  ago — those  of  them  who 
are  yet  spared  to  earth — are  again  her  neighbors. 
"With  them  she  frequently  exchanges  visits — from 
fifty  to  sixty  hours  only,  at  most,  being  necessa- 
y  to  bring  them  together.  If  Old  Kip  had  actu- 


THB    HISTORY    OF    PERT?.  109 

ally  gone  to  sleep,  twenty  years  ago  upon  the  prai- 
ries, upon  awaking  now,  it  is  opined,  his  amaze- 
ment would  far  exceed  that  inspired  by  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Catskills.  Who  will  now  com- 
plain of  the  hardships  incident  to  a  removal  from 
the  most  favored  regions  to  a  country,  already  so 
far  advanced  in  all  that  contributes  to  the  comfort, 
enjoyment  and  embellishment  of  life  ? 


On  the  6th  August  the  world  -was  astounded 
by  the  announcement  that  the  Atlantic  Cable  was 
successfully  laid.  Previous  failures  had  left  no 
hope  in  the  minds  of  any,  even  the  most  sanguine, 
of  such  a  result.  The  short,  laconic,  simple  dis- 
patch of  Mr.  Field — the  world  renowned  projec- 
tor and  master  spirit  of  the  work — flew  with  light- 
ning wings  throughout  America  and  fell  upon 
minds,  where  skepticism  for  a  long  time  repelled 
and  resisted  conviction.  Slowly  the  possibility  of 
its  truth  gained  the  ascendency  over  disbelief  and 
doubt,  till  at  length,  the  amazing  reality  of  the 


110  THE   HISTORY    OF   PERtf. 

achievement  began  to  be  comprehended.  The 
dispatch  to  his  family  of  Capt.  Hudson,  of  the 
United  States'  Steam  Frigate  Niagara,  from 
which  the  cable  was  laid,  was  telegraphed 
over  the  country  and  dispelled  all  doubt.  That  dis- 
patch, beaiitiful  in  its  epigrammatic  terseness,  and 
sublime  in  its  devout  thankfulness  and  gratitude, 
will  be  carried  down  the  coming  centuries,  as  long 
as  the  remembrance  of  the  great  feat  shall  sur- 
vive. "  God  has  been  with  us !  The  telegraph 
cable  is  laid,  without  accident,  and  to  Him  be  all 
the  Glory.  We  are  all  well. "  In  its  first  efforts 
at  comprehension,  the  mind  utterly  fails  to  grasp 
and  measure  the  terrible  sublimity  of  Niagara, 
the  awful  majesty  of  Mont  Blanc,  or  the  colos- 
sal proportions  of  a  vast  cathedral,  which 
"  Defy  at  first  our  nature's  littleness, 
Till,  growing  with  their  growth,  we  thus  dilate 
Our  spirits  to  the  size  of  that  they  contemplate." 
So  with  the  Atlantic  Telegraph.  The  mind  is 
bewildered  and  baffled  when  it  undertakes  to 
contemplate  either  the  consequences  which  are 
to  flow  from  it,  or  the  simple  extent  of  the  cable, 
and  the  mysterious  regions  which  it  traverses. 
Far  down  along  the  groined  and  vaulted  cav- 


TUB    HISTORY   OF   PERU.  Ill 

erns  of  the  Ocean's  bed ;  along  the  slimy  path- 
way, strewed  with  the  wrecks  of  sunken  argosies, 
their  treasures  darkling  in  oozy  dungeons,  and 
the  forms  of  their  once  living,  breathing,  human 
freight,  stark  and  ghastly  in  eternal  sleep  ;  along 
rayless  and  gloomy  depths,  where  silence  and 
solitude,  profound  and  supreme,  unending  and 
eternal,  encompass,  pervade  and  encircle  as  with 
an  atmosphere ;  along  submarine  alpine  peaks, 
vainly  struggling  upwards  towards  the  regions  of 
light  and  warmth;  beneath  where  the  storm  Fiend 
rides  on  the  billow's  crest,  where  the  tempest 
howls  the  hoarse  refrain  of  its  anthem,  and  where 
sweeps  the  ice  berg,  congealed,  perhaps,  when 
the  morning  stars  first  sang  together ;  stretches  a 
metallic  thread  no  bigger  than  your  finger,  uni- 
ting lands  two  thousand  miles  asunder  in  bonds 
of  harmony  and  brotherly  love ;  along  which 
glides  a  subtle  fluid,  conveying  thought  and  in- 
telligence— those  mysterious  emanations  of  the 
human  brain — and  writes  them  in  distant  lands 
as  rapidly  as  they  are  engendered.  A  thought 
is  born,  and  instantly  it  is  stamped  upon  a  human 
mind  two  thousand  miles  away,  across  the  path- 
less waste  of  ocean  !  A  human  heart  beats,  and 


112  THE    HISTORY    OF  PERU. 

its  throb  is  felt  before  the  blood  returns  for  anoth- 
er circuit.  A  word  is  spoken,  and  it  is  re-uttered 
before  the  sound  has  died  upon  the  ear  of  the 
first  speaker  !  A  question  is  asked,  and  its  an- 
swer comes  back  as  the  shuttle  returns  with  the 
woof !  A  boon  is  craved,  and  the  heart  leaps 
in  exultation  as  it  is  granted,  or  sinks  in  despair 
as  it  is  denied,  almost  as  soon  as  the  lips  have 
closed  upon  its  utterance!  Stupendous  achieve- 
ment! Is  there  no  limit  to  the  conquests 
of  man  over  the  forces  of  nature,  tangible 
or  invisible  ?  Shall  he  yet  find  means,  by 
the  clerity  of  his  messengers  and  the  invinci- 
bility of  his  power,  to  overtake  and  reclaim 
the  lost  and  wandering  Pleiad,  and  restore  the 
fugitive  to  its  celestial  companions  ?  Shall  he 
go  on,  step  by  step,  into  the  shadowy  realms  of 
the  Impossible,  until  he  shall  claim  affinity  with 
Supreme  Intelligence?  Shall  he  advance,  in 
the  order  of  progressive  creation,  untill  he  shall 
be  developed  in  a  being  more  nearly  allied  to 
Ultimate  Destiny  ?  Shall  the  curtains  which  con- 
ceal the  arcana  of  hidden  knowledge  be  gradual- 
ly drawn  aside,  and  his  eye  rest,  with  imfliiiching 
gaze,  upon  the  secrets  of  the  Infinite  ?  Thoughts 


THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU.  113 

like  these  crowd  upon  the  brain,  stupified  and 
amazed  by  the  announcement  of  an  event,  more 
wonderful,  as  a  triumph  over  Nature's  obstacles, 
than  -was  ever  proclaimed  since  the  world  began. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Early  Settlers  in  Vicinity — Early  French  Settle- 
ments— Buffalo  Rock — Chronological  glance  at 
Illinois  —  Black  Hawk  War — Indian  Creek 
Massacre— Cork  War — Murder  of  Story — John 
Myers — Ninawa  Titles — Col.  Kinney — A.  H. 
Miller— Starved  Rock — Deer  Park — Sulphur 
Springs. 

The  writer  indulges  in  the  hope  that  he  will  be 
pardoned  for  the  following  digression,  which, 
though  forming  no  part  of  the  "  History  of  Pe- 
ru, "  is  so  connected  with  it  as  to  induce  the  be- 
lief that  it  will  be  not  altogether  uninteresting  to 
its  citizens,  or  to  the  general  reader  into  whose 
hands  this  little  book  may  fall.  The  present 
residents,  as  they  turn  their  eyes  over  the  beau- 
tiful State  they  inhabit,  and  behold  it  dotted  with 
towns,  cities,  and  cultivated  farms,  where  the 
presence  of  its  original  inhabitants  is  as  rare  as 
in  Europe,  where  churches,  schools  and  libraries 


THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU.  115 

are  strewn  broadcast  over  the  land,  where  the 
arts,  embellishments  and  accessories  of  high  civ- 
ilization are  everywhere  present  and  pervading, 
and  where  rail  road  and  telegraph  lines  intersect 
in  every  direction,  may  find  it  pleasant,  for  a  few 
moments,  to  drop  the  present  and  turn  their 
thoughts  to  the  remote  past,  and  briefly  follow  up 
the  chain  of  events,  in  chronological  order,  to  the 
period  which  immediately  preceded  the  settle- 
ment of  the  town.  A  brief  notice  of  events 
which  occurred  in  the  neighborhood,  of  the  sur- 
rounding localities,  and  of  the  individuals  who 
inhabited  them,  whose  characters  were  marked 
with  strong  and  original  pecularities,  may  als.o 
not  be  uninteresting. 

Looking  backwards  three  years  before  the  com- 
mencement of  this  History — twenty-five  years 
ago — we  behold  the  site  of  Peru  occupied  as  an 
Indian  village.  The  very  spot  where  is  now  the 
residence  of  the  writer  is  said  to  have  been  an  In- 
dian burying  ground.  Northward,  the  nearest 
residence  of  the  white  man  was  at  Dixon's  Ferry, 
and  westward,  at  Princeton,  excepting,  perhaps, 
the  Jrloskins  family  near  the  Bureau.  South 
of  the  river  were  some  settlements.  Along  the 


110  THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU. 

timber  towards  Hennepin  lived  George  Ish  and 
Henry  Belong  ;  at  Cedar  Point,  Nathaniel  Rich- 
ie ;  on  the  bluff,  near  the  old  Fort,  John  Myers ; 
at  Bailey's  Point,  Lewis  Bailey,  William  Seeley,' 
"William  Groom,  Joel  Alvord,  Asa  Holdridge, 
William  Haws,  and  perhaps  a  few  others  ;  at  or 
near  Hennepin,  the  Willises,  Stwarts,  Thompsons, 
Durleys,  Donlevys,  Shepperds,  Zenors  and  Dents; 
at  Utica,  Simon  Orosiar  ;  at  Ottawa,  the  Walk- 
ers, Browns,  Covills,  &c.;  at  Dayton,  John  Green 
and  William  L.  Dunnavan  ;  at  Indian  Creek,  the 
Halls,  Davises  and  Petegrus ;  and  further  east- 
ward, the  Hollenbecks  and  Holdermans.  At 
Bloomington,  seventy  miles  distant,  was  the  near- 
est mill,  and  thither  all  the  people  went  to  get  their 
corn  and  wheat  ground,  until  Green  built  one  at 
Dayton,  in  1833  or  1834:.  As  late  as  1837,  as  re- 
lated by  Mrs.  Lockwood  who  then  lived  with  her 
father,  Isaac  Manville,  at  Manville  Hollow,  in  Ce- 
dar Creek  bottom,  two  miles  south  of  Peru,  when 
a  new  mill  wras  erected  and  it  was  announced  that 
bolted  flour  could  be  obtained  on  a  certain  day, 
the  people  nocked  around  it  in  crowds  ;  and  so 
eager  were  they  to  enjoy  that  luxury,  that  they 
employed  Mr.  Manville's  family  to  bake  cakes  for 


THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU.  117 

them,  keeping  them  thus  engaged  nearly  the 
whole  night,  and  standing  around  the  kitchen  fire 
— it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  other  apart- 
ments were  very  spacious  or  numerous — with 
watering  mouths  and  excited  palates,  ready  to 
appropriate  the  delicious  pasty,  as  it  came  smok- 
ing from  the  pans.  Mrs.  Lockwood  says  she 
was  nearly  exhausted,  and  thought  the  people 
never  would  get  enough.  The  frame  of  this  mill 
was  afterwards  removed  to  Peru  where  it  was  set 
up,  and  is  now  occupied  by  Capt.  Lewis  Goodell 
as  a  livery  stable,  We  will  now  turn  our  atten- 
tion nearly  two  centuries  backwards. 

The  word,  Illinois,  is  a  French  corruption  of 
Leno.  The  Indians  told  the  early  French  set- 
tlers that  they  were  Leno-Lenapes — we  are  men — 
meaning,  we  are  brave  or  masculine  men,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  cowardly  or  effeminate  men. 
To  an  imperfect  pronunciation  of  the  first  word, 
the  French  added  the  termination  peculiar  to  their 
own  language — hence  Leiiois,  and  ultimately,  by 
a  further  corruption,  Illinois. 

It  has  been  often  remarked  that  the  topography 
and  climate  of  Illinois  bear  a  strong  analog}7  to 
those  of  some  portions  of  France.  In  its  prime- 


118  THE    HISTOBY    OF   PEKU. 

val  condition,  there  was,  in  its  landscape  and  at- 
mosphere, the  spirit  of  gay  and  joyous  life,  and 
of  soft  and  luxurious  repose  which  distinguish 
the  Gallic  Empire.  The  broad  plains  were  free 
from  the  enervating  influence  of  the  Tropics,  on 
the  one  hand,  or  the  stern  and  rugged  landscape 
features  which  nurse  the  restless  Norseman,  on 
the  other.  These  may  have  been  among  the 
reasons  which  tempted  the  Frenchman,  after 
their  existance  had  been  made  known  by  the  ex- 
plorations of  his  countrymen,  to  take  up  his  abode 
along  the  streams  and  groves,  which  diversify 
them.  At  any  rate,  French  settlements  were 
made  immediately  in  the  footsteps  of  Marque  tie, 
La  Salle,  La  Hontag  and  other  explorers,  who 
carried  the  Holy  Cross  of  the  Church  and  the 
Fleurs  le  Lis  of  France  into  these  wilds,  as  early 
as  the  reign  of  the  Grande  Monarque,  Louis  XI Y. 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century. — 
Settlements  were  made  at  Peoria,  Kaskaskia  and 
Cohokia,  to  which  were  transferred  the  arts,  cus- 
toms, manners,  faith  and  costumes  of  France,  at 
the  period,  and  where  they  flourished  and  were 
conserved,  with  very  little  innovation,  until  the 
approach  of  the  American  Goth — the  rude  and 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  119 

semi  barbaric  pioneer.  Little  jealousy  and  few 
feuds  appear  to  have  existed  between  these  intru- 
ders and  the  tawny  children  of  the  forest  and 
prairie,  by  whom  they  were  surrounded,  and  up- 
on whose  hunting  grounds  they  were  trespassing. 
The  imposing  ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  faith, 
and  the  simple,  frank  and  conciliatory  manners  of 
the  strangers  charmed  the  senses  and  soothed  the 
passions  of  these  children  of  nature.  The  French 
rule  in  America  was,  in  the  main,  marked  by  the 
absence  of  those  terrible  and  prolonged  conflicts 
which  almost  always  accompanied  Anglo  Saxon 
settlement,  in  which  the  amenities  of  civilized,  or 
even  barbaric  warfare,  were  entirely  ignored,  and 
each  party  strove  to  out  do  the  other  in  acts  of 
revolting  atrocity.  The  stern,  cold  hauteur,  the 
rude,  coarse  insolence,  and  the  grasping,  insatia- 
ble cupidity  of  the  latter  inevitably  aroused  every 
demon  in  the  Indian  breast.  The  English  colo- 
nists knew  no  arts  of  Indian  conciliation.  Their 
tactics  were  limited  to  fire  water  in  advance,  and 
the  sword  in  reserve  to  avenge  the  acts  of 
madness  excited  thereby.  The  race  has  not  de- 
generated at  all,  in  these  respects,  since  the 
maurauding  Saxon  scourged  the  Baltic  shores  of 


120.  THE   HISTORY   OF   PEKtT. 

Briton.  In  support  of  this,  witness  the  efforts  of 
England  to  force  an  interdicted  and  demoralizing 
commerce  upon  the  passive  Chinese;  witness 
her  success  in  saddling  the  spawn  of  her  aristo- 
cracy upon  the  necks  of  the  sujugated  Hindoo 
and  Sepoy,  compelling  the  worshippers  of  both 
Vishnu,  and  Mahomet  to  bow  before  crosiar  and 
mitre ;  witness  the  long  and  cruel  oppression  of 
her  Celtic  neighbors;  witness  how  we,  shoots 
from  the  same  scion,  have  carried  the  bible  in  our 
hand  and  the  whisky  bottle  in  the  other,  while  in 
the  rear  came  the  rifle  of  the  backwoodsman  to 
enforce  all  arguments  with  the  untutored  savages; 
witness  how  volunteers  have  rallied  around  the 
stars  and  stripes,  and  pushed  the  original  posses- 
sors of  the  soil  backwards,  ever  backwards,  until 
a  new  wave  comes  rolling  from  the  Pacific  coast 
upon  his  rear  ;  witness  the  cruel  and  inglorious 
wars — if  by  that  name  they  may  be  dignified — in 
Florida  and  Oregon,  excited  by  mercenary  and 
unscrupulous  jobbers  for  the  sake  of  a  chance  of 
plunder  from  the  National  treasury  ;  witness  the 
bullying  of  and  final  conflict  with  the  mongrel 
races  of  poor,  decrepit,  imbecile  Mexico,  where- 
by the  auriferous  valleys  of  California  and  the  ster- 


THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU.  121 

ile  wastes  of  New  Mexico  were  wrested  from  her 
nerveless  grasp ;  witness  the  fillibustering  forays 
in  Central  America ;  and  witness  the  undisguis- 
ed lusting  after  the  Gem  of  the  Antilles,  and 
the  unblushing  announcement  made  at  Ostend, 
by  dignified  statesmen,  claiming,  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  to  be  Christians,  and  representing,  not 
cannibal  savages  or  outlawed  pirates,  but  a  people 
who  profess  to  acknowledge  the  divine  injunc- 
tion, ado  unto  others  as  you  would  that  they 
should  do  unto  you,  "  and  to  believe  that  the 
command,  "  thou  shalt  not  steal,  "  is  as  imperi- 
tive  now  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  great  Jew- 
ish law  giver. 

But  to  return  to  the  Acadian  settlements  of  the 
French  in  Illinois.  The  manners  and  customs 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  as  before  mentioned, 
were  cherished  and  conserved  by  these  communi- 
ties, isolated  as  they  were  in  the  heart  of  a  wil- 
derness continent,  until  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Passing  from  French  to  Eng- 
lish rule  by  the  treaty  of  1T63,  they  finally  came 
under  the  jurisciction  of  the  American  Confeder- 
ation by  the  treaty  of  1783.  After  the  treaty  of 
Ghent  in  1814  the  restless  American  pioneer  be- 


122  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

gan  to  make  encroachments.  The  contrast  be- 
tween these  two  representatives  of  their  respec- 
tive races,  thus  meeting  face  to  face  in  the  wilder- 
ness, was  even  more  marked  and  decided  than 
between  the  same  races,  separated  by  the  English 
Channel.  The  Frenchman  represented  a  by-gone 
age,  softened  and  subdued  by  the  influences  of 
more  than  a  century's  sojourn,  in  aggregated 
communities,  among  the  quiet,  sylvan  glades  of 
le  belle  terre.  .The  American,  originally  imbued 
with  the  heartless  and  licentious  voluptuousness  of 
the  Cavaliers  of  the  times  of  Charles  II.  or  the 
morose,  ascetic  manners  of  the  Common  wealth, 
was  in  either  case,  transformed  and  remoulded, 
but  with  many  of  his  original  characteristics  yet 
clinging  to  him,  by  more  than  a  century's  resi- 
dence upon  a  wilderness  frontier,  where  "  no  pent 
up  Utica  confined  his  powers,  "  where  the  most 
unbounded  freedom  of  thought  and  action  were 
enjoyed,  where  the  wants  of  nature  and  the  re- 
quirements of  taste  were  gratified  in  the  rudest, 
simplest  and  most  primeval  manner,  and  where, 
surrounded  by  the  stern  and  gloomy  grandeur  of 
forest  life,  continual  conflict  with  savages  and  wild 
beasts  had  produced  characteristics  which,  trans- 


THE    HISTOJiY    OF    PEBU.  123 

mitted  from  one  generation  to  another,  had  cul- 
minated in  a  character  original,  unique  and  in- 
teresting. The  salient  points  which  distinguish- 
ed him  \\  ere  unhesitating  self  reliance ;  reckless 
and  chivalrous  daring ;  imperious  and  resistless 
will ;  cool  and  impurturable  self  possession ;  spas- 
modic and  startling  energy,  contrasted  with  in- 
termittent, if  not  habitual  indolence ;  strong,  mas- 
culine sense,  undiluted  with  any  poetry,  senti- 
ment or  superstition ;  scorning  wilds  and  strategy, 
"but  always  prepared  to  circumvent  and  baffle 
them ;  hospitable  to  friend  or  stranger,  and  ever 
ready  to  share  his  wolf  or  bear  skin,  his  hog  and 
hominy,  his  tobacco  and  whisky  with  all  comers; 
to  his  enemies  bold  and  defiant,  but  generous  and 
forgiving ;  to  his  friends  faithful  and  true,  deem- 
ing desertion  of  their  fortunes,  in  trouble  or  dan- 
ger, the  most  aggravated  of  delinquences ;  pos- 
sessed of  physical  powers  of  endurance  which 
mocked  privation  and  fatigue ;  eye,  nerve  and 
brain  steady  and  true  in  all  emergencies;  migra- 
tory in  his  habits  as  a  Bedouin  Arab  ;  ready,  at 
all  times,  to  drink  or  fight,  run  or  wrestle  ;  unlet- 
tered and  untutored  as  the  savage  who  had  been 
his  companion  or  his  foe ;  and  uncouth  and  re- 


124  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

pnlsive  in  action,  manners  and  habits  as  the  bear 
with  which  he  had  coped  in  a  hand  to  paw  and 
knife  to  fangs  conflict. 

Thus  were  the  offshoots  of  the  two  greatest  and 
most  cultivated  and  refined   of  modern   nations, 
vis-a-vis,  in  the  heart  of  the  American  continent. 
Soon  the  song  of  the  voyageur, 
"  Such  as  at  home,  in  the  olden  time,  his  fathers 

before  him- 
Sang  in  their  Norman   orchards  and  bright  Bur- 

gundian  vineyards, " 

as  he  floated  with  the  stream,  or  propelled  his 
batteaux  against  the  current,  with  pole,  and  line, 
and  oar,  and  sail,  was  hushed  forever.  Soon  the 
panting  of  the  steamer  awoke  the  long  silent 
echos  of  the  bluffs  and  startled  the  aquatic  fowl 
from  lagoon  and  bayou.  Soon  the  swelling  tide 
of  a  more  advanced  civilization  rolled  westward 
over  the  prairies,  and  the  "  common  "  of  the  rus- 
tic village,  upon  whose  verdant  sward  and  be- 
neath whose  branching  elms,  enamoured  swains 
and  blushing  maidens, 
"  "Wearing  their  Norman  caps,  and  their  kirtles 

of  blue,  and  the  ear  rings 


THE    HISTORY    OP    PERU.  125 

Brought  iii  the   olden  time  from  France,  and 

since,  as  an  heir  loom, 
Handed  down  from  mother  to  child,  through  long 

generations,  " 

had  been  wont  to  "  trip  the  light  fantastic  toe  " 
to  rude  and  simple  music,  was  illumined  with 
the  camp  fires  and  whitened  with  the  wagon 
covers  of  the  Saxon  emigrant.  Soon  the  alloted 
arpents  which,  in  the  exercise  of  "  squatter  sov- 
reignty,  "  had  been  appropriated  by  each  family 
as  a  home  lot,  were  surveyed,  divided,  staked 
and  sold,  and  an  embryo  city  was  rising  theron. 
Soon  the  quaint  and  moss  covered  church,  where 
Yesper,  Matin  and  Mass  had  erst  been  said, 
chanted  and  sung,  gave  place  to  the  "  meeting 
house  "  of  another  creed  and  faith. 

The  early  French  explorers  established  a  post 
at  Buffalo  Rock  which,  it  is  believed,  was  the 
first  attempt  at  settlement  by  Europeans,  in 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  This  presumption 
is  supported  by  the  following  facts.  De  Soto, 
after  his  two  years  wandering  among  the  ever- 
glades of  Florida  and  the  swamps  and  mount- 
ains of  what  is  now  Georgia,  Alabama  and 
Mississippi,  arrived  on  the  bank  of  the  "  Great 


126  THE    JHSTORY    OF    PEBtT. 

river  "  in  1541,  "but  founded  no  settlement,  left 
no  traces,  and  produced  no  effects,  unless  to  ex- 
cite the  hostility  of  the  red  against  the  white 
man.  "  One  hundred  and  thirty  two  years  later 
—  1673 — Marquette  passed  up  the  Fox  of  "Wiscon- 
sin, across  the  portage,  and  down  the  Wisconsin 
to  the  Mississippi,  and  returned  by  way  of  the  Ill- 
inois. But  he,  too,  according  to  Joliet,  who  was 
his  companion,  "founded  no  settlement,  and 
left  no  traces.  "  These  two  expeditions  contained 
the  only  Europeans  that  ever  set  foot  in  the  Great 
Yalley  until  La  Salle,  five  years  later,  passed 
down  the  Illinois.  His  route  was  up  the  St.  Jo- 
seph in  Michigan,  across  the  portage  by  the  Kan- 
kakee,  and  down  that  stream  to  the  Illinois,  upon 
the  banks  of  which  he  made  his  first  halt  and 
built  Rock  Fort,  where  he  established  a  Mission 
and  settlement,  but  which  •  was  afterwards  aban- 
doned, the  inhabitants  taking  themselves  to  Fort 
Crevecour.  That  Buffalo  Rock  was  the  site  of 
Rock  Fort  is  probable  from  the  name,  as  well  as 
from  its  superior  advantages  for  such  an  estab- 
lishment over  any  other  place  in  the  valley,  from 
the  confluence  of  the  Kankakee  to  Peoria.  This 
supposition  is  sustained  by  Perkins,  Sparks  and 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  127 

Bancroft.  A  year  or  two  ago,  a  brass  kcetle  was 
found  in  this  locality,  imbedc  ed  in  a  strata  of  coal 
which  runs  through  this  singular  eminence.  It 
was  reported  to  have  been  overlaid  by  a  regular 
seriated,  unbroken  coal  formation ;  but  as  this 
statement  is  opposed  to  received  geological  theo- 
ries, it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  it  was  depos- 
ited by  design  or  accident,  in  an  excavation  made 
by  these  settlers. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1778,  two  years  after  the 
declaration,  of  Independence,  Col.  Clark,  between 
whom  and  Boone  the  honor  of  founding  Ken- 
tucky is  divided,  with  a  small  band  of  frontier  sol- 
diers, surprised  Kaskaskia,  then  garrisoned  by  the 
British,  and  shortly  afterwards  made  himself 
master  of  Cohohia,  without  bloodshed.  He  first 
brought  to  the  inhabitants  intelligence  of  the  al- 
liance between  the  Americans  and  their  former 
liege,  the  King  of  the  French,  which  was  receiv- 
ed with  rapturous  enthusiasm,  so  galling  and  un- 
welcome had  been  the  British  yoke.  Les  long 
Conteaux,  as  the  Kentuckians  were  called,  and 
les  Bostonias,  as  the  Yankees  were  called  were 
thenceforth  welcome. 

The  attachment  which    the   Indians   always 


128  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

manifested  towards  their  great  Father  of  France, 
in  oppposition  to  the  British  rule,  was  quickly 
transferred  to  the  Americans.  In  October,  the 
House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia  erected  the  country 
north  of  the  Ohio  into  the  county  of  Illinois,  over- 
which  they  placed  John  Todd,  of  Kentucky,  Gover 
nor.  Two  companies,  raised  in  the  French  set- 
tlements, accompanied  Clark  in  his  famous  ex- 
pedition against  Vincennes.  In  1783,  the  treaty 
of  peace  was  concluded,  by  which  the  western 
boundary  of  the  enfranchised  Colonies  was  de- 
clared to  be  the  Mississippi.  In  1784,  the  North 
West  Territory  was  ceeded  by  Virginia  to  the 
Confederation  Congress.  In  1787,it  was  organized 
by  Congress,  but  no  government  was  established 
in  Illinois  until  1790.  This  consisted  of  a  Governor 
three  Judges  and  a  Council,  who  combined  exec- 
utive, judicial  and  legislative  authority.  In  this 
year,  the  county  of  St.  Clair  was  organized. — 
From  1783,  when  the  country  passed  from  under 
British  rule,  to  1790 — a  period  of  seven  years — no 
government  of  any  kind  existed  in  Illinois.  In 
1809,  Illinois,  then  including  what  is  now  Wiscon- 
sin was  organized  as  a  first  class  Territorial  Govern- 
ment, the  people  electing  a  House  of  Representa- 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

lives,  and  the  President  and  Senate  appointing 
the  Governor  and  Council.  Mnian  Edwards 
was  the  first  Governor  and  Nathaniel  Pope,  both 
of  Kentucky,  the  first  Secretary.  In  1812,  war 
•was  declared  between  the  United  States  and 
England.  Soon  followed  the  surrender  of  De- 
troit, by  Hull,  and  the  Chicago  massacre.  At  this 
time  no  settlement  existed  in  Illinois,  north  of 
Alton,  except  the  small  French  settlement  of 
Peoria.  An  expedition,  in  which  the  present 
Buchanan  candidate  for  Superintendent  of  public 
instruction,  John  Reynolds,  the  "  Old  Ranger,  " 
participated,  attacked  and  destroyed  an  Indian 
village  on  the  bluff,  at  the  head  of  Peoria  Lake. 
On  the  24th  of  Dec.  18M,  the  treaty  of  Ghent  was 
signed.  In  July,  1815,  a  treaty  was  made  at 
Portage  des  Sioux,  a  short  distance  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Missouri,  between  the  American 
Commissioners,  consisting  of  Gov.  Clark  of 
Missouri,  Gov.  Edwards  of  Illinois,  and  Au- 
guste  Chouteau  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  various 
Indian  tribes  of  the  North  West,  except  the 
Sacks  and  Foxes,  under  Keokuk  and  Black 
Hawk,  who  refused  to  come  to  the  treaty 
ground.  Two  years  afterwards,  at  St.  Louis,  a 


130  THE   HISTORY   OF   TERlT. 

treaty  was  made  with  these  tribes,  an  alledged 
violation  of  which  led  to  the  Black  Hawk  war  in 
1831  and  '32.  From  this  time  to  1820,  emigration 
poured  into  Illinois.  It  was  almost  entirely  from 
the  Southern  States,  and  stopped  south  of  the 
Sangamon.  The  population  of  Illinois  was  in 
1790,  about  2000  ;  in  1800,  about  3000 ;  in  1810, 
12,284  ;  in  1820,  45,000 ;  in  1830, 157,447 ;  in 
1840,  478,929 ;  in  1850,  853,317;  and  in  1855, 
1,300,000. 

The  first  Legislature  convened  at  Kaskaskia  in 
1812.  Kot  a  lawyer  or  attorney  is  found  on  the 
roll  of  names.  Pierre  Menard,  of  the  French 
settlements  at  Peoria,  presided  in  the  Council. — 
The  Legislature  of  1817 — '18  incorporated  the 
'Illinois  Bank  of  Shawneetown,'  the  "  Bank  of 
Cairo"  and  the  "Bank  of  Edwardsville. "— 
They  all  became  depositories  of  United  States 
money.  The  latter  failed  soon  afterwards,  by 
which  the  Government  lost  $54,000.  The  two 
former  failed,  but  were  galvanized  into  life  during 
the  Internal  Improvement  mania  of  1835 — '36, 
and  by  their  subsequent  failure  contributed  to  the 
distress  of  the  people  in  1841  and  1842.  In  1818, 
Illinois  became  a  State.  Her  constitution  was  not 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PEKU.  131 

submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  Shadrick  Bond, 
of  Kaskaskia,  was  the  first  Governor  and  Pierre 
Menard  first  Lieutenant  Governor.  Gov.  Bond, 
at  the  first  session  of  the  State  Legislature,  re- 
commended the  construction  ofthe  canal.  In  18- 
20— '21  the  "  State  Bank  "  was  incorporated.— 
The  faith  of  the  State  was  pledged  for  its  issues. 
It  failed  and  the  State  made  up  a  deficiency  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  which  she  bor- 
rowed of  or  through  a  gentleman  named  "Wig- 
gins. This  was  the  famous  Wiggins  loan  and 
the  foundation  of  the  State  debt. 

The  suggestion  of  the  canal  was  made  as  early 
as  1814,  in  Mies  Register.  The  extract  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  By  the  Illinois,  it  is  probable  that  Buffalo,  in 
New  York,  may  be  united  with  New  Orleans  by 
inland: navigation,  through  lakes  Erie,  Huron  and 
Michigan,  and  the  Illinois,  and  down  that  river 
to  the  Mississippi.  What  a  route !  How  stu- 
pendous the  idea !  How  dwindles  the  impor- 
tance of  the  artificial  canals  of  Europe !"  Many 
Acts  were  passed  for  forwarding  this  work — one 
in  1824,  one  in  1325,  one  in  1827,  one  in  1829, 
but  the  law,  under  which  the  work  was  actually 


132  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

commenced,  was  not  passed  until  1835. 

In  182-1,  the  Sangamon  river  was  the  northern 
boundary  of  settlements.  North  of  the  Illinois, 
the.  country  was  occupied  by  the  Sacks  and  Fox- 
es. As  before  mentioned,  these  tribes  were  not 
represented  at  the  treaty  of  Portage  des  Sioux,  but 
afterwards  entered  into  a  treaty  at  St.  Louis. — 
Another  treaty  was  made  with  them  at  Rock  Is- 
land in  1822,  another  at  "Washington  in  1824, 
another  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in  1825,  and  another 
in  1830,  by  all  of  which  they  agreed  to  move 
across  the  Mississippi.  Black  Hawk,  a  brave  but 
not  a  chief,  refused  to  be  bound  by  these  treaties, 
and  in  1831,  commenced  a  series  of  depredations 
and  murders  on  the  scattering  settlements  on 
Rock  River,  but  on  the  appearance  of  the  troops 
retreated  across  the  Mississippi.  In  1832,  he  re- 
crossed  the  river  with  most  of  the  warriors  of  the 
tribes,  and  defeated  Maj.  Stillman  with  175  men 
at  a  place  about  20  miles  above  Dixon's  Ferry. — 
Soon  3000  militia  were  rendezvoused  at  Fort  Sci- 
ence, which  stood  near  where  the  river  sweeps 
northward  from  the  foot  of  the  bluffs  above  Peru. 
These  were  joined  by  a  detachment  from  Fort 
Armstrong,  on  Rock  Island,  when  the  whole  pro- 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PEKU.  133 

ceeded  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Atkinson,  on 
the  trail  of  the  Savages.  Gen.  Scott,  with  six 
hundred  mounted  men  and  nine  companies  of 
artillery,  was  ordered  from  the  seaboard,  but  be- 
fore his  arrival  the  western  troops  had  put  a  ter- 
mination to  the  war.  These  moved  northward, 
and  by  a  series  of  actions — one  by  a  detachment 
under  the  command  of  Col.  John  Dement  be- 
tween Dixon  and  Galena,  one  by  Gen.  Henry 
near  the  Blue  Mounds  in  Wisconsin,  and  one  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin — dispersed  the  sava- 
ges and  put  an  end  to  Blackhawk's  power.  Keo- 
kuk,  the  regular  chief  of  the  Sacks,  had  endeav- 
ored to  dissuade  them  from  the  war,  but  the  coun- 
cils of  Black  Hawk,  his  rival,  prevailed.  The  few 
settlers  in  La  Salle  county  at  this  time — supposed 
to  be  about  one  hundred  in  number — suffered 
much  from  the  atrocity  of  the  Indians.  After 
the  rout  of  Stillman,  the  latter  separated  into  small 
squads  for  the  purpose  of  murder,  pillage  and  the 
destruction  of  property.  A  party  made  an  incur- 
sion  upon  Indian  Creek,  a  few  miles  north  of  Ot- 
tawa, where  they  killed  fifteen  of  the  families  of 
Hall,  Davis  and  Petegru,  who  were  all  living  in 
one  house.  The  attack  was  made  in  the  dav  time 


134:  THE    HISTORY    OF    PEETT. 

by  about  sixty  Indians,  who  watched  the  men 
leave  the  house  to  go  to  their  work  upon  a  mill 
dam  close  by,  when  they  rushed  from  their  co- 
verts, one  portion  firing  upon  the  men,  while  the 
other  entered  the  house  and  slaughtered  all  the 
women  and  children,  with  the  exception  of  two 
daughters  of  Mr.  Hall.  The  men,  five  in  num- 
ber, had  time  to  return  the  fire  of  the  enemy  sev- 
eral times,  with  probable  effect,  before  they  fell. 
Two  of  them  threw  themselves  into  the  creek, 
but,  on  reaching  the  further  bank,  they  were  shot. 
"Willian  Davis  and  John  W.  Hall,  sons  of  the 
elder  Davis  and  Hall  who  were  killed,  swam 
down  the  stream,  and  baffled  the  search  of  their 
pursuers.  Mr.  Hall  is  now  living  in  the  vicinity 
of  Peru.  John  Green,  at  Dayton,  William  L. 
Dunnavaii,  the  Hollenbecks,  Holdermans,  and 
all  the  other  settlers  in  the  region  of  Fox  River, 
were  more  or  less  sufferers,  and  all  had  to  seek 
refuge  in  the  fort  at  Ottawa.  One  man  was  kill- 
ed on  the  Bureau,  six  or  eight  miles  from  Prince- 
ton. Some  of  the  present  citizens  of  La  Salle 
county,  remember  with  gratitude  the  kindly  ser- 
vices of  Shabanna,  a  friendly  Indian,  at  present 
living  at  Shabanna's  Grove,  to  whose  friendly 


THE    HISTORY   OF    PERT?.  135 

warnings  and  active  interference  they  owe  their 
own  lives  and  those  of  their  families. 

The  two  Miss  Halls — Rachael  about  seventeen 
and  Silvia  about  fourteen  years  of  age — were  car- 
ried captive  to  the  Blue  Mounds  thence  to  the 
Desmoine,  where  they  were  purchased  by  the 
Winebagoes  for  three  thousand  dollars  in  trin- 
kets, of  whom  the  Government  purchased  them 
for  five  thousand  dollars.  They  were  taken 
down  the  Desmoine  to  Keokuk  where  their  un- 
cle, Reason  B.  Hall,  had  repaired  to  receive 
them.  They  were  in  captivity  only  fifteen  days 
and  were,Fupon  the  whole,  treated  with  very  lit- 
tle rudeness.  Their  faces  were  painted  upon  one 
side  black  and  upon  the  other  side  red.  and  their 
hair,  upon  one  side,  was  clipped  close  to  their 
heads,  while  upon  the  other  it  was  suffered  to  re- 
main long.  One  day  they  were  ordered  to  lay 
themselves  down,  with  their  faces  to  the  ground, 
while  above  them  the  warriors  brandished  their 
weapons  and  debated  about  killing  them,  their 
language  being  partially  understood  by  the 
captives.  It  is  probable  that  the  circumstances 
were  very  favorable  to  the  acquisition  of  the  lan- 
guage. One  day,  on  their  march,  an  Indian's 


13(5  THE   HISTORY   OF   PEBtT. 

pony  stumbled  on  the  brow  of  a  steep  hill,  when 
horse  and  rider  went  tumbling,  one  over  the  oth- 
er, to  the  bottom.  The  younger  Miss  Hall  has 
since  declared  that,  notwithstanding  all  the  hor- 
rors of  her  situation,  she  could  not  help  indulging 
in  a  ringing  shout  of  laughter.  This,  so  far  from 
prejudicing  her  with  her  captors,  gained  her  their 
favor.  Subsequently,  a  young  brave  became  en- 
amoured with  her  and,  as  a  consequence,  two 
thousand  dollars  ransom  were  insisted  upon  for 
her,  while  only  one  thousand  dollars  were  de- 
manded for  her  sister.  While  on  their  march, 
they  were  allowed  only  one  hours'  intercourse 
with  each  other  during  the  day,  and  a  squaw  took 
her  place  between  them  as  they  slept  at  night. — 
One  of  them  was  afterwards  married  to  "William 
Horn  and  now  resides  in  Missouri,  and  the  other 
was  married  to  William  Mnnson  and  resides  on 
Indian  Ceeek,  near  the  place  of  the  massacre. — 
This  account  has  been  frequently  given  to  the 
writer  by  different  members  of  the  family,  and 
lately  by  Mrs.  Scott,  Jan  aunt  of  the  ladies,  who 
at  present  lives  in  the  town. 

During  the  years  1837  and  1838,  large  forces 
of  Irish  laborers  were  employed   upon  the  canal. 


THE   HISTORY    OF   PEBU.  137 

Some  time  in  the  winter  of  these  years,  one  of 
their  characteristic  feuds  broke  out  between  the 
Corkonians  or  Minister  men  and  "  Far  Downs  " 
or  Lienster  men  at  the  Sagg,  on  the  upper  portion 
of  the  work.  This  gradually  spread  itself  down- 
wards, until  in  May,  a  united  effort  was  made  on 
the  part  of  the  Corkonians,  who  were  the  strong- 
er party,  to  drive  the  "  bloody  Far  Downs  "  from 
all  jobs.  A  skirmish  took  place  near  Marseilles 
where  the  latter  were  worsted.  The  triumphant 
party,  excited  by  victory  and  bad  whisky,  defy- 
ing the  civil  authorities,  destroying  property,  and 
abusing  and  maltreating  every  luckless  county 
Longfort  man  who  came  in  their  way,  continued 
down  the  line  below  Ottawa,  to  the  job  of  Ed- 
ward Sweeney,  who  was  a  Corkonian.  Here 
they  were  reinforced  by  his  entire  force —  about 
two  hundred  men — and  marched,  under  his  lead- 
ership, to  the  extreme  western  end  of  the  line,  at 
Peru,  whence  they  countermarched,  having 
swept  the  line  from  end  to  end,  of  all  obnoxious 
fellow  laborers,  and  destroyed  many  of  their 
shanties.  The  Sheriff,  Alson  Woodruff,  sum- 
moned a  posse  to  quell  the  disturbance.  "Word 
was  sent  to  the  Deputy  at  Peru,  Zimri  Lewis, 


138  THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU. 

late  in  the  afternoon,  to  raise  a  party  and  form  a 
junction  with  another  from  Ottawa  on  the  next 
day.  Lewis  gathered  what  forces  and  arms  conld 
be  raised  in  the  town  and  neighborhood  during 
the  night,  and  was  ready  to  march  early  in  the 
morning.  The  rioters,  some  five  hundred 
strong,  bivouaced  near  the  "  Carey  Patch,  or 
"  Split  Rock''  just  above  the  Pecumsogin.  In 
the  morning  they  moved  up  the  line,  renewing 
the  excessess  of  the  previous  day.  All  were 
armed  with  guns,  knifes,  scythes,  picks,  and 
whatever  other  weapons  could  be  siezed.  Lewis' 
forces  were  joined  at  La  Salle,  which  then  was  a 
mere  cluster  of  laborers  shanties,  by  a  reinforce- 
ment of  Americans  and  "Far  Downs"  under 
the  leadership  of  that  veteran  contractor,  "Wil- 
liam Byrne,  Esq.,  who  was  himself  a  Lienster 
man,  and  whose  employees  were  driven  from 
their  work.  On  the  way,  the  Irish  portion  of 
the  forces  were  with  difficulty  restrained  from  de- 
stroying the  property  and  insulting  the  families 
of  their  enemies  who  were  in  the  mob  ahead. — 
Upon  the  ridge  of  table  land,  near  Buffalo  Rock, 
Woodruff,  with  his  posse,  met  the  tumultous  rab- 
ble. The  former,  tolerably  well  armed,  were 


THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU.  139 

drawn  up  to  prevent  their  further  advance. — 
Woodruff  ordered  them  to  lay  down  their  arms 
and  submit  to  the  civil  authority,  warrants  having 
been  issued  for  the  arrest  of  the  leaders.  This 
order  was  answered  by  a  charge  from  the  mob 
which  immediately  produced  a  retreat  of  the 
posse.  The  forces  of  Lewis  and  Byrne  were  at 
first  placed  under  the  command  of  Capt.  Ward 
B.  Burnett,  the  present  Surveyor  General  of 
Kansas,  but  who  soon  relinquished  the  command 
to  Lewis.  They  moved  on  rapidly  to  the  place 
where  the  party  was  held,  a  short  distance  from 
which  they  overtook  the  enemy.  Lewis  repeat- 
ed the  demand  before  made  by  his  superior,  and 
was  answered  by  defiance  and  their  hostile  demon- 
strations, upon  which  a  well  directed  volley  was 
poured  into  them,  which  was  immediately  follow- 
ed by  a  cavalry  charge  of  such  of  the  forces  as 
were  mounted.  The  mob  dispersed  in  every  di- 
rection. Some  threw  themselves  into  the  river 
whither  they  were  pursued,  and  several  were  shot 
in  the  water.  A  large  number  were  arrested  and 
marched  to  Ottawa.  Seven  were  killed,  as  known 
at  the  time,  and  three  others  were  afterwards 
found  in  the  grass  and  buried.  Of  the  posse, 


140  THE    HISTORY   OF    PERU. 

now  were  killed,  but  Cornelius  Lamb,  a  black- 
smith, and  John  Bracken,  a  laborer,  were  severe- 
ly wounded.  This  account  of  the  matter  can  be 
substantiated  by  the  testimony  of  many  yet  living 
in  the  vicinity  who  participated  in  the  affray,  and 
particularly  that  by  Lewis  and  Byrne,  to  whom 
the  writer  confidently  appeals  for  the  general 
truth  of  the  statement. 

On  arriving  at  Ottawa,  the  prisoners  were 
placed  under  guard,  while  their  followers  and  as- 
sociates hung  in  groups  about  the  outskirts  of  the 
town.  Under  the  Constitution  and  laws  at  that 
time,  every  Irishman,  though  he  might  nothave 
been  but  six  months  from  the  bogs,  was  a  voter. 
Here,  then,  was  a  rich  field  opened  for  the  dema- 
gogues, and  the  reader  may  be  sure  they  did  not 
neglect  it.  Here  was  democratic  raw  material 
which  could  not  be  permitted  to  run  to  waste. — 
Sympathizers  were 

"  Thick  as  autumnal  leaves  that  strow  the  brooks 
In  Yallambrosa  " 

Gen.  Fry  and  other  aspiring  gentlemen  commen- 
ced harrangues,  but  were  speedily  cut  short  by 
the  "  boys "  who  insisted  that  this  was  not  the 
entertainment  to  which  they  were  invited. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU.  141 

The  number  of  Irish,  living  along  the  lines  of 
the  canal  and  rail  road,  for  many  years,  far  out- 
numbered all  other  residents ;  but  this  was  the 
only  demonstration  against  the  quiet  of  the  com- 
munity which,  by  concerted  action,  has  taken 
place  from  that  time  to  the  present,  if  the  riots  on 
the  Central  Rail  Road  work,  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  river,  be  excepted.  The  excess  and  vio- 
lence, in  either  case,  must  not  "be  attributed  to  the 
Irish  residents,  as  a  class.  To  the  conservative 
influence  of  the  more  intelligent  portion,  rather 
than  to  any  exhibition  of  physical  power,  is  the 
community  indebted  for  the  general  good  order 
which  has  prevailed.  The  learned  professions, 
merchants,  farmers  and  mechanics  are  largely 
composed  of  their  class ;  and  many,  who  came, 
here  as  poor  laborers,  are  now  wealthy  men,  ap- 
preciating, in  a  degree  equal  to  that  of  other  citi- 
zens, the  blessings  of  a  government  of  laws.  The 
writer  is  fully  satisfied,  by  close  observation,  that 
the  influence  of  the  Catholic  clergy  has  ever  been 
on  the  side  of  order  and  submission  to  the  laws. 

Of  the  riots  on  the  Central  Rail  Road  the  fol- 
lowing account  is  presented. 

In  December,  1853,  a  force  of  about  four  him- 


14:2  THE    HISTORY    OF    PEKU. 

dred  and  fifty  men  was  employed  on  the  embank- 
ment and  excavations  on  the  south  end  of  the 
Central  Kail  Road  bridge  at  La  Salle.  A  misun- 
derstanding existed  between  the  contractor,  Al- 
bert Story,  and  the  men  about  wages.  The  latter 
had  been  employed  at  one  dollar  and  a  quarter 
per  day,  but  the  contractor,  being  unwilling  any 
longer  to  pay  more  than  one  dollar  per  day,  so  in- 
formed the  men  and  appointed  a  day — the  15th — 
when  he  would  pay  such  as  chose  to  quit  work. 
The  men,  on  their  part,  alledged  that  they  had 
been  allured  from  the  East  by  handbills  circula- 
ted by  Story  and  his  associates,  announcing  that 
one  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  day  would  be  paid 
on  the  job ;  and  that  after  they  had  expended  all 
their  means  to  reach  the  work,  the  promise  was 
violated,  and  they  were  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment, except  at  reduced  wages,  with  families  to 
provide  for,  at  the  commencement  of  winter. 

On  the  day  appointed  the  clerk  commenced 
paying.  Soon  an  error  was  found  in  the  accounts 
which  was  announced  to  the  men,  and  the  busi- 
ness of  paying  was  suspended.  This  incensed 
the  men,  who  rushed  into  the  office  and  declared 
they  would  help  themselves  to  their  pay.  One  of 


THB   HISTORY    OF   PERU. 

them  struck^Story  in  the  face.  During  the  scuf- 
nle,  Col.  Maynard^a  Superintendent  of  the  work 
and  a  resident  of  Chicago,  left  by  the  back  way 
to  find  and  take  care  of  Mrs.  Story  and  her  chil- 
dren. While  he  was  gone  the  assailants  were 
forced  from  the  room  and  the  door  refastened, 
when  the  crowd  commenced  with  axes,  picks  and 
shovels  to  break  down  the  door.  One  succeeded 
in  entering,  when  Story,  who  was  armed,  asked 
his  clerks  whether  it  was  best  [to  shoot.  They 
said,  "no,  we  had  better  be  quiet."  Mr.  Story, 
not  knowing  that  Maynard  had  gone  to  take  care 
of  his  wife  and  children,  went  by  the  back  way 
to  the  house.  Finding  his  wife  gone,  he  started 
for  the  stable  for  a  horse  on  which  to  leave  the 
place.  The  men,  seeing  him,  rushed  towards  the 
stable,  shouting  "kill  him!  kill  him!  kill  him  !" 
and  with  picks,  shovels  and  stones  brutally  and 
almost  instantly  murdered  him,  one  man  striking 
him  with  a  stone  on  the  head  after  he  was  dead. 
It  has  been  asserted  that  Story  did  tire  upon  the 
crowd,  wounding  one  man,  but  this  did  not  clear- 
ly appear^on  the  subsequent  trials. 

The  news  of  the  murder  soon  reached  La  Salle, 
and  a  telegraphic  dispatch  was  sent  to  Ottawa  for 


144  THB    HISTORY    OF   PERU. 

Sheriff  Thorn,  who  arrived  with  a  military  force 
about  7  o'clock  in  the  evening.  These,  with  May- 
or Campbell,  of  La  Salle,  and  about  one  hundred 
citizens,  started  for  the  scene  of  the  murder. — 
On  arriving  at  the  spot  a  number  of  individuals 
were  discovered,  scattered  over  the  hills,  some  of 
whom  were  armed,  though  only  a  few  assumed  a 
threatening  attitude.  Being  fired  upon  they  stop- 
ped, and  one  returned  the  fire,  and  received,  in 
return,  two  balls  in  his  arm,  and  was  then  ares- 
ted.  The  Sheriff  then  visited  the  different  shan- 
ties and  arrested  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  men  he 
could  find,  amounting  to  sixty  or  seventy,  of 
which  some  thirty  or  forty  were  recognized  as 
participators  in  the  row,  though  none  were  of  the 
supposed  ringleaders,  but  these  were  subsequent- 
ly arrested.  The  Sheriff  left  a  portion  of  his 
force  as  a  permanent  guard ;  and  the  work  being 
prosecuted  by  other  parties,  the  vicinity,  through 
out  the  winter,  bore  resemblance  to  a  regular 
military  encampment. 

Twelve  were  indicted  as  ringleaders  in  the  af- 
fray, four  of  whom,  Kren  Brennan,  James  Terry, 
Michael  Terry  and  Martin  Ryan  took  a  change 
of  venue  to  Kane  county,  where  they  were  con- 


TBE   HISTORY   OF    PEBtT. 


victed  of  murder,  when  a  new  trial  was  granted 
which  resulted  in  a  second  conviction.  By  the 
clemency  of  Gov.  Matteson  their  punishment  was 
commuted  to  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary 
for  life  ;  and  among  the  last  of  his  official  acts,  a 
full  pardon  was  granted.  The  executive  interfer- 
ence caused  great  dissatisfaction,  and  upon  the 
occasion  of  the  Governor  visiting  La  Salle,  he  was 
burnt  in  effigy.  Six  were  convicted  of  man- 
slaughter and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for 
one  year  and  served  out  the  term.  The  other 
two  were  not  found. 

On  the  bluff,  near  the  old  fort,  and  afterwards 
at  Manville  Hollow,  for  many  years,  there  lived 
an  individual  whose  peculiarities  were  so  strongly 
marked  as  to  demand  a  notice  in  this  work.  — 
His  name  was  John  Myers,  but  more  familiarly 
known,  among  the  early  settlers,  as  the  "stallion 
painter.  "  He  was  a  fair  specimen  of  the  frontier 
man  —  a  type  of  which  is  attempted  to  be  de- 
scribed in  this  chapter.  In  fact,  he  served  as  a 
model  for  that  description.  But  justice  was  not 
done  to  his  moral  qualities.  His  rough  garb  and 
uncouth  manners  concealed  a  noble  and  true 
heart.  He  was  brave,  impulsive  and  generous, 


146  THE   HISTORY   OF   PERU. 

and  scorned  and  loathed  subterfuge,  evasion, 
and  chicanery  as  only  a  noble  and  true  heart  can. 
He  liked  whisky,  as  all  frontier  men  do,  but  he 
seldom  lost  his  bodily  or  mental  equilibrium. — 
He  was  never  in  a  condition  when  all  his  native 
coolness  and  resources  would  not  have  been  at 
command  in  an  instant,  had  he  been  assailed  by 
any  of  his  old  familiar  foes,  whether  man  or 
beast.  He  was  never  quarrelsome,  even  in  his 
cups,  but  the  wronged  or  weaker  party  in 
any  conflict,  was  sure  to  find  in  him  a  champion 
as  chivalrous  as  ever  raised  a  shield  or  poised  a 
lance.  His  exhilaration  was  generally  manifest- 
ed in  yells,  such  as  no  human  throat  ever  uttered 
before.  The  most  ambitious  steam  whistle  might 
have  been  envious  of  his  screams.  These  he 
called  his  blessings.  He  sometimes  indulged  in 
songs.  Such  unearthly  notes  were  never  heard 
out  of  Pandemonium. 

He  would  have  made  the  fortune  of  Spalding 
&  Rogers  by  singing  an  accompaniment  to  the 
calliope.  Many  of  the  present  citizens  of  Peru 
will  recollect  his  vocal  performances  as  he  pur- 
sued his  way  homewards  across  the  bottom  above 
the  town.  On  the  occasion  of  the  first  opening 


THE    HISTORY   OF   PERU.  14:7 

of  a  court  at  Ottawa,  he  went  up  to  witness  that 
novel  performance.  Having  imbibed  a  lew 
draughts  of  whisky,  and  being  rather  unfamiliar 
with  the  etiquette  and  decorum  of  courts,  he  in- 
dulged in  exercises  not  very  gratifying  to  judicial 
dignity  or  favorable  to  the  progress  of  business. — 
Being  frequently  reprimanded  he  became  some- 
what incensed,  whereupon  he  gave  vent  to  his  in- 
dignation in  one  of  the  most  remarkable  efforts 
of  the  lungs  that  even  electrified  a  court  of  Jus- 
tice. Judges,  lawyers  and  spectators  recoiled 
in  dismay,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  pins  and 
tenons  which  confined  the  roof  were  seriously 
strained. 

When  first  known  to  the  writer,  he  was  nearly 
eighty  years  of  age,  yet  his  step  was  firm  and 
elastic,  his  eye  bright  and  lustrous,  in  the  corner 
of  which  there  lurked  an  expression  of  humor  and 
fun,  his  mind  clear  and  vigorous,  and  his  voice — 
well,  we  won't  say  any  thing  more  about  that.  Born 
upon  the  outskirts  of  civilization  in  Georgia,  he 
had  wandered  along  the  streams  and  valleys  of 
Tennessee,  Kentucky  and  Southern  Illinois,  rest- 
ing from  time  to  time,  until  advancing  settlements 
crowded  him  still  further  into  the  wilderness. — 


141  THE    HISTORY    OF 


He  was  entirely  unlettered,  though  he  man- 
aged to  sign  his  name,  and,  as  is  reported,  some- 
times to  his  disadvantage.  Notwithstanding  this 
he  noticed  all  the  fasts  and  holy  days  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  a  circumstance  which  indicated  his 
southern  origin.  His  usual  dress  was  a  buckskin 
hunting  shirt,  breeches  and  moccasins.  In  this 
costume  he  appeared,  by  special  invitation,  at  the 
first  ball  given  in  Peru.  This  was  largely  com- 
posed of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  fresh  from  the 
saloons  and  drawing  rooms  of  the  eastern  cities. 
As  may  be  supposed,  the  etiquette  and  toilets  of 
the  assembly  produced  no  little  astonishment  i 
the  mind  of  the  rough  old  pioneer.  The  ladies 
eagerly  sought  his  hand  in  the  dance,  but  shrunk 
back  in  agony  from  its  vice-like  grasp. 

Being  once  more  cramped  and  annoyed  by  the 
influx  of  strangers  he  left  this  part  of  the  country 
in  1839  or  1840,  and  took  up  his  residence  in 
Southern  Missouri,  near  the  Arkansas  line.  Years 
and  infirmities  soon  pressed  upon  him,  when  he 
returned  to  the  banks  of  the  Illinois  to  die.  He 
was  buried  in  the  burying  ground  at  Cedar  point. 
The  writer  has  refrained  from  a  notice  of  his  most 
distinguished  exploits,  as  he  finds  it  prepared  to 


THE    HISTORY   OF    WSSV. 

his  hand,  in  a  much  better  manner  than  he  could 
hope  to  accomplish,  in  the  September  number  of 
Putnam's  Magazine.  He  would  say  that,  in  the 
main,  it  corresponds  with  the  accounts  he  has  re- 
ceived from  the  mouth  of  Mr.  Myers  himself,  and 
from  those  who  knew  him  at  the  time  of  the 
events  related. 

A  party  of  eight  or  ten  Indians,  accompanied 
by  Myers,  had  been  out  two  or  three  days  on  a 
hunting  excursion,  and  were  returning,  laden  with 
the  spoils  of  the  chase,  consisting  of  various  kinds 
of  wild  fowls,  squirrels,  raccoons,  and  buffalo 
skins.  They  had  used  up  all  their  ammunition 
except  a  single  charge,  which  was  reserved  in  the 
rifle  of  the  chief  for  any  emergency  or  choice 
game  which  might  present  itself  on  the  way  home. 
A  river  lay  in  the  way,  which  could  be  crossed 
only  at  one  point,  without  subjecting  them  to  an 
extra  journey  of  some  ten  miles  round.  When 
they  arrived  at  this  point,  they  suddenly  came  to 
a  huge  panther,  which  had  taken  possession  of 
the  pass,  and  like  a  skilful  general,  confident  of 
his  strong  position,  seemed  determined  to  hold  it. 
The  party  retreated  a  little  and  stood  at  bay  for 
a  while,  and  consulted  what  should  be  done. 
Various  methods  were  attempted  to  decoy  or 
frighten  the  creature  from  his  position,  but  in 
vain.  He  growled  defiance  whenever  they  came 
in  sight,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  If  you  want 


150  THE    HISTORY    OF    PEBTT. 

stronghold  come  and  take  it."  The  animal  ap- 
peared to  be  very  powerful  and  fierce.  The 
trembling  Indians  hardly  dared  to  come  in  sight 
ef  him,  and  all  the  reconnoitering  had  to  be  done 
by  Myers.  The  majority  were  for  retreating  as 
fast  as  possible,  and  taking  the  long  journey  ten 
miles  round  for  home,  but  Myers  resolutely  re- 
sisted. He  urged  the  chief  whose  rifle  was  load- 
ed, to  march  up  to  the  panther,  take  good  aim 
and  shoot  him  down ;  promising  that  the  rest  of 
the  party  would  back  htm  up  closely  with  their 
knives  and  tomahawks,  in  case  ef  a  mis-fire. 
But  the  chief  refused ;  he  knew  too  well  the 
nature  and  power  of  the  animal.  The  crea- 
ture, he  contended,  was  exceedingly  hard  to 
kill.  ~Not  one  shot  in  twenty,  however  well  aim- 
ed, would  dispatch  him ;  and  if  one  shot  failed,  it 
was  a  sure  death  to  the  shooter,  for  the  infuriated 
animal  would  spring  upon  him  in  an  instant,  and 
tear  him  to  pieces.  For  similar  reasons  every 
Indian  in  the  party  declined  to  hazard  a  battle 
with  the  enemy  in  any  shape. 

At  last  Myers,  in  a  burst  of  anger  and  impa- 
tience, called  them  alia  set  of  cowards,  and 
snatching  the  loaded  rifle  from  the  hands  of  the 
chief,  to  the  amazement  of  the  whole  party, 
marched  deliberately  towards  the  panther.  The 
Indians  kept  at  a  cautious  distance  to  watch  the 
result  of  the  fearful  battle.  Myers  walked  stead- 
ily up  to  within  about  two  rods  of  the  panther, 


THE    BISTORT   OP   PEKU.  151 

keeping  his  eye  fixed  upon  him,  while  the  eyes  of 
tL  e  panther  flashed  fire,  and  his  heavy  growl  be- 
tokened at  once  the  power  and  firmness  of  the 
animal.  At  about  two  rods  distance,  Myers  lev- 
eled his  rifle,  took  deliberate  aim,  and  fired. — 
The  shot  inflicted  a  heavy  wound,  but  not  a  fatal 
one  ;  and  the  furious  animal,  maddened  with  the 
pain,  made  but  two  leaps  before  he  reached  his 
assailant.  Myers  met  him  with  the  but  end  of 
his  rifle,  and  staggered  him  a  little  with  two  or 
three  heavy  blows,  but  the  rifle  broke,  and  the 
animal  grappled  him,  apparently  with  his  full 
power.  The  Indians  at  once  gave  Myers  up  for 
dead,  and  only  thought  of  making  a  lively  retreat 
for  themselves.  Fearful  was  the  struggle  between 
Myers  and  the  panther,  but  the  animal  had  the 
best  of  it  at  first,  for  they  soon  came  to  the 
ground,  and  Myers  underneath,  suffering  under 
the  joint  operation  of  sharp  claws  and  teeth,  ap- 
plied by  the  most  powerful  muscles.  In  falling, 
however,  Myers,  whose  right  hand  was  at  liberty, 
had  drawn  a  long  knife.  As  soon  as  they  came 
to  the  ground,  his  right  arm  being  free,  he  made 
a  desperate  plunge  at  the  vitals  of  the  animal,  and, 
as  good  luck  would  have  it,  reached  his  heart. — 
The  loud  shrieks  of  the  panther  showed  that  it 
was  his  death  wound.  He  quivered  convulsively, 
shook  his  victim  with  a  spasmodic  leap  and 
plunge,  then  loosened  his  hold,  and  fell  powerless 
by  his  side.  Myers,  whose  wounds  were  severe 


152  THB   HISTORY   Off   PEEIT. 

but  not  mortal,  rose  to  his  feet,  bleeding  and  much 
exhausted,  but  with  life  and  strength  to  give  a 
grand  whoop,  which  conveyed  the  news  of  his 
victory,  to  his  trembling  Indian  friends. 

They  now  came  up  to  him  with  shouting  and 
joy,  and  so  full  of  admiration  that  they  were  al- 
most ready  to  worship  him.  They  dressed  and 
bound  up  his  wounds,  and  were  now  ready  to 
pursue  their  way  home  without  the  least  impedi- 
ment. Before  crossing  the  river,  Myers  cut  off 
the  head  of  the  panther,  which  he  took  home  with 
him,  and  fastened  it  up  by  the  side  of  his  cabin 
door,  where  it  remained  for  years,  a  memorial  of 
a  deed  that  excited  the  admiration  of  the  Indians 
in  all  that  region.  From  that  time  forth  they 
gave  Myers  that  name,  and  always  called  him 
the  Panther.  (The  writer  has  before  given  the 
name  by  which  all  the  old  settlers  will  recognize 
him.) 

Time  rolled  on,  and  the  Panther  continued  to 
occupy  his  hut  in  the  wilderness,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Illinois  Elver,  a  general  favorite  among  the 
savages  and  exercising  a  great  influence  over 
them.  At  last  the  tide  of  white  population  again 
overtook  him,  and  he  found  himself  once  more 
surrounded  by  white  neighbors.  Still,  however, 
he  seemed  loth  to  forsake  the  noble  Illinois,  on 
whose  banks  he  had  been  so  long  a  fixture,  and 
ke  held  on,  forming  a  sort  of  connecting  line  be- 


THE    HISTORY    OF   PERU.  158 

tween  the  white  settlers  and  the  Indians. 

At  length  hostilities  broke  out,  which  resulted 
in  the  memorable  Black  Hawk  war,  that  spread 
desolation  through  that  part  of  the  country. — 
Parties  of  Indians  committed  the  most  wanton 
and  cruel  depredations,  often  murdering  old 
friends  and  companions,  with  whom  they  had 
long  held  conversation.  The  white  settlers,  for 
some  distance  round,  nocked  to  the  cabin  of  the 
Panther  for  protection.  His  cabin  was  trans- 
formed into  a  sort  of  garrison,  and  was  filled  with 
more  than  an  hundred  men,  women  and  children, 
who  rested  almost  their  only  hope  of  safety  on  the 
prowess  of  the  Panther,  and  his  influence  over 
the  savages. 

At  this  time  a  party  of  about  nine  hundred  of 
the  Iroqnois  were  on  the  banks  of  the  Illinois, 
about  a  mile  from  the  garrison  of  Myers,  and 
nearly  opposite  the  present  town  of  La  Salle. — 
One  day  news  was  brought  to  the  camp  of  Myers, 
that  his  brother-in-law  and  wife,  and  their  three 
children,  had  been  cruelly  murdered  by  some  of 
the  Indians.  The  Panther  heard  the  sad  news 
in  silence.  The  eyes  of  the  people  were  upon 
him,  to  see  what  he  would  do.  Presently  they 
beheld  him  with  a  deliberate  and  determined  air, 
putting  himself  in  battle  array.  He  girdled  on 
his  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife,  and  shouldered 
his  loaded  rifle,  and,  at  open  mid-day,  silently 
nd  alone,  bent  his  steps  towards  the  Indian  en- 


154:  THE    HISTORY    OF    PERU. 

campment.  "With  a  fearless  and  firm  tread,  he 
marched  quietly  into  the  midst  of  the  assembly, 
elevated  his  rifle  at  the  head  of  the  principal 
Chief  present,  and  shot  him  dead  on  the  spot. — 
He  then  deliberately  severed  the  head  from  the 
trunk,  and  holding  it  up  by  the  hair  before  the 
awe-struck  multitude,  he  exclaimed,  "You  have 
murdered  my  brother-in-law,  his  wife  and  little 
ones ;  and  now  I  have  murdered  your  Chief,  I  am 
now  even  with  you.  But  now  mind,  every  one  oJ 
you  that  is  found  here  to-morrow  morning  at  sun 
rise,  is  a  dead  Indian !" 

All  this  was  accomplished  without  the  least  mo 
lestation  from  the  Indians.  These  people  are  ac 
customed  to  regard  any  remarkable  deed  of  dar 
ing  as  the  result  of  some  supernatural  agency 
and  doubtless  so  considered  the  present  incident 
Believing  their  Chief  had  fallen  a  victim  to  some 
unseen  power,  they  were  stupified  with  terror,  anc 
looked  on  without,  a  thought  of  resistance.  My 
ers  bore  off  the  head  in  triumph  to  his  cabin 
where  he  was  welcomed  by  anxious  friends,  almos 
as  one  returning  from  the  dead.  The  next  morn 
ing  not  an  Indian  was  to  be  found  anywhere  ii 
the  vicinity. 

It  is  probable  that  the  above  may  be  takei 
with  some  allowance.  There  is  certainly  a  mis 
take  about  the  Indians  being  Iroquois,  and  abou 
their  being  an  hundred  people  garrisoned  at  My 


THE    HISTOET    OF    PERU.  155 

ers'  cabin,  and  probably  about  their  being  any 
there  at  all.  There  probably  were  some  people 
gathered  in  the  fort,  close  by. 

The  title  to  that  portion  of  Peru,  called  E"ina- 
wa,  rests  upon  the  following  basis.  Lyman  D. 
Brewster,  as  mentioned  in  the  first  chapter  of  this 
History,  held  under  the  Government  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  At  his  demise  he  bequeathed  it  to 
the  American  Colonization  Society.  This  body, 
being  a  mere  voluntary  association  of  individuals, 
having  no  corporate  existence,  was  incapable  of 
becoming  a  devisee  of  real  estate.  It  followed, 
then,  that  the  property  reverted  to  the  heirs-at- 
law  as  of  an  Intestate.  From  these  Theron  D. 
Brewster  obtained  releases.  Some  of  them,  by 
reason  of  their  minority  being  incompetent  to  ex- 
ecute conveyances  at  the  time,  have,  since  arri- 
ving at  their  majority,  conveyed^their  several  in- 
terests. Mr.  Brewster  conveyed  an  undivided 
two-tenths  in  section  seventeen,  and  an  undivi- 
ded four-tenths  in  section  twenty  to  Col.  H.  L. 
Kinney,  by  whom  various  undivided  interests 
were  sold — one  to  Col.  Ward  B.  Burnett,  one  to 
Capt.  Richard  Philips,  of  the  St.  Louis  Demo- 
crat, one  to  Hon.  Henry  Hubbard,  of  New 


THE   HISTORT^OF   PERU. 

Hampshire,  and  one  to  Hon.  Daniel  Webster, 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  Mr.  Brews- 
ter  sold  another  undivided  interest  to  JPenn  & 
Holmes  of  Montreal,  by  whom  it  was  conveyed  to 
E.  D.  Whitney,  of  Philadelphia.  Through  some, 
or  all  of  these  parties,  the  title  to  all  property  in 
Ninawa  Additionjis  derived. 

Col.  Kinney  occupied  a  very  conspicuous  posi- 
tion in  the  incipient  stages  of  the  existence  of 
Peru.  He  emigrated  from  Bradford  county,  Penn., 
in  1838,  and  commenced  making  a  new  farm  on 
the  west  bank  of  Spring  Creek,  working  assidu- 
ously during  the  following  winter  at  splitting 
rails.  In  1835,  in  connection  with  FsCapt.  Ulys- 
ses Spaulding,  he  built  a  store  where  Peru  now 
stands  and  filled  it  with  goods.  Upon  the  letting 
of  work  on  the  canal,  he  became  a  contractor  for 
all  that  portion  below  the  Little  Vermillion,  in- 
cluding locks,  basin  and  channel,  amounting  to 
nearly  a  million  of  dollars.  He  soon  embarked 
in  other  speculations  and  business,  and  became 
the  most  influential  and  noted  man  in  this  part  of 
the  State.  In  1837  and  the  early  part  of  1838, 
everybody's  movements  appeared  to  be  regulated 
by  those  of  Col.  Kinney.  He  WBS  the  central 


THB   HISTORY    ©F    PERU.  157 

Sun  from  whom  all  lesser  orbs  borrowed  their 
light.  In  1837,  Kinney  became  disconnected 
from  Spaulding,  and  was  joined  by  Daniel  J. 
Townsend.  A  portion  of  the  business  was  then 
conducted  in  the  name  of  Townsend  &r  Kinney. 
In  1838,  their  affairs  fell  into  confusion  and  Kin- 
ney left.  It  was  wonderful  how  many  people,  in 
the  town  and  vicinity,  were  ruined  by  his  failure. 
Many,  who  had  been  brought  here  from  Penn- 
sylvania at  his  expense,  and  had  lived  upon  his 
bounty  while  here,  were  suddenly  ruined  by  the 
treachery  and  perfidy  of  their  friend,  aad,  as  a 
consequence,  were  entirely  unable  to  meet  their 
own  little  engagements. 

Col.  Kinney,  as  is  well  known,  was  and  is  a 
man  of  indominitable  energy,  and  possessed  of  a 
brain  fertile  with  vast  schemes  and  gigantic  en- 
terprises. He  is  said  to  have  rode  once  to  Chica- 
go, a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles,  without 
leaving  his  saddle.  Gen.  Taylor  reported  him  as 
having  moved  a  command  of  mounted  men,  in 
the  Mexican  War,  one  hundred  miles  in  twenty- 
four  hours — a  feat,  it  is  believed,  without  a  paral- 
lel. His  address  and  manners  were  captivating 
in  the  extreme,  and  he  possessed  a  sort  of  magnetic 


158  THE    HISTOBY   OF   PEKU. 

power  to  bind  all  who  came  within  the  sphere  of 
his  influence,  to  his  interests  and  fortunes.  His 
hospitality  and  liberality  were  circumscribed  only 
by  the  means  at  his  command  at  the  moment,  and, 
as  a  consequence,  parasites  clung  to  him  with  a 
tenacity  known  only  to  that  interesting  class. — 
Two  ot  his  sisters  still  reside  in  the  town,  and 
his  venerable  father,  Simon  Kinney,  Esq.,  at  Tis- 
kilwa. 

Col.  Kinney  soon  afterwards  turned  up  at  Cor- 
pus Christi,  Texas.  His  career  thenceforth  has 
become  a  portion  of  the  history  of  that  State,  of 
the  Mexican  War,  and  of  Central  America. 

Among  the  motley  crowd  who  were  gathered 
at  Peru  in  1338  was  a  man  named  A.  H.  Miller. 
His  usual  cognomen  was  "  Old  Kentuck. ''  He 
dressed  in  the  full  splendor  of  a  five-year-gone-by 
fashion,  wore  high  top  boots  of  brilliant  colors, 
drawn  over  his  pantaloons,  with  tassels  pendant 
nearly  to  the  scrupulously  polished  bottoms,  and 
ruffle  shirts  which  the  drippings  of  frequent  pota- 
tions soon  soiled,  and  was  generally  superbly 
mounted,  the  trappings  of  his  horse  being  gaudy 
as  those  of  a  Field  Marshal.  He  was  of  Hercu- 
lean frame — over  six  feet  in  height — and  alwavs 


THE    HI8TOKT   OF   PERU.  159 

went  armed  with   a  brace   of  revolvers,   one  on 
each  side,  their  hilts  protruding  ostentatiously  in 
sight,  a  ponderous  Bowie  knife  down  his  back,  a 
dagger  in  his  belt,  and  a  pocket  pistol  in  his  right 
breeches-pocket  wrhich  he  christened  "little  Bet- 
sey, "  and  upon  which  was  inscribed,  "hark  from 
the  tombs  " — in  short  he  was  a  complete  moving 
arsenal.  Upon  the  slightest  provocation,  he  would 
assume  the  most  belligerent  attitude  and  diabolical 
frown,   set  his   teeth  in  manacing  rigidity,  and 
fumble  among  his  tools,  which  sent  forth  certain 
ominous   little  clicks.     Many  was  the  eye   chat 
quailed  and  cheek  that  blanched  before  this  per- 
sonification of  rage  and  power.     At  length  some 
of  the   "  boys  "  bethought  themselves  of  the  old 
adage  about  barking  dogs,  and  concluded  to  try 
his  mettle.     The  result  was  that  he  displayed  the 
white  feather  and  turned  tails  to,  as  the  saying 
is,  amid  the  jeers  and  taunts  of  the  by-standers.t 
From  that  moment  his  prestige  was   gone,  and 
ever  afterwards  he  "  roared  as  gently  as  a  sucking 
dove.  "     Those  who  had  quailed  before  his  wrath 
took  ample  revenge  by  bullying  him  upon  every 
occasion. 
The  most  noticeable  places  in  the  neighborhood 


160  THB    HISTORY    OF   PERF. 

are  Starved  Rock,  Deer  Park  and  the  Sulphur 
Springs.  The  following  account  of  the  first  of 
these  is  from  Perkin's  Annals . 

Starved  Rock,  near  the  foot  of  the  rapids  of 
the  Illinois,  is  a  perpendicular  mass  of  lime  and 
sand  stone  washed  by  the  current  at  its  base  and 
elevated  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  The  diam- 
eter of  its  surface  is  about  one  hundred  feet,  with 
a  slope  extending  to  the  adjoining  bluff  from 
which  alone  it  is  accessible. 

Tradition  says  that  after  the  Illinois  Indians 
had  killed  Pontiac,  the  great  Indian  Ch?.3f  of  the 
northern  Indians  made  war  upon  them.  A  band 
of  the  Illinois,  in  attempting  to  escape,  took  shel- 
ter on  this  rock,  which  they  soon  made  inaccessa- 
ble  to  their  enemies,  and  where  they  were  closely 
besieged.  They  had  secured  provisions,  but  their 
only  resource  for  water  was  by  letting  down  ves- 
sels with  bark  ropes  to  the  river.  The  wily  be- 
siegers contrived  to  come  in  canoes  under  the  rock 
and  cut  off  their  buckets,  by  which  means  the 
unfortunate  Illinois  were  starved  to  death.  Many 
years  after,  their  bones  were  whitening  on  this 
summit. 

Deer  Park  is  a  gorge  or  ravine,  worn  by  the 
action  of  water  through  the  sandstone  superstruc- 
ture, about  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  width,  seventy 
or  eighty  in  depth,  and  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 


THE   niSTOET   OF   rFIMJ.  161 

in  length.  It  is  entered  on  a  level  with  the  bot- 
tom of  the  Big  Vennillion,  about  four  miles  from 
Pern,  and  can  be  explored  with  carnages  its  entire 
length.  The  upper  end  is  enlarged  into  an  am- 
phitheatre, about  one  hundred  feet  in  diameter 
and  over  arched  with  projecting  sand  stone  cliffs. 
In  the  center  of  this  enlargement  bubbles  a  foun- 
tain of  cool  and  refreshing  water,  whence  trickles 
a  crystal  rill  down  the  entire  length  of  the  gorge. 
During  the  sultry  days  of  summer  it  is  a  delight- 
ful place  of  resort,  and,  to  use  a  popular  term, 
is  extensively  "  improved.  "  Its  name  is  suppo- 
sed to  be  derived  from  the  practice  of  the  Indians, 
in  driving  herds  of  deer  into  its  mouth,  when, 
having  no  aperture  of  escape,  they  became  en  ea- 
sy prey. 

The  Sulphur  Springs  are  several  streams  of 
water,  issuing  from  the  crevises  of  the  sand  stone 
rock,  on  an  elevated  plateau,  rising  from  the  riv- 
er bottom,  not  far  from  midway  between  Ottawa 
and  Peru,  l^ear  them  is  aline,  commodious  Ho- 
tel, for  the  accomodation  of  visitors.  The  waters 
are  highly  charged  with  sulphur  and  other  miner- 
al, a:o  qui-c  offensive  to  the  taste  of  the  novice, 
and  are  said  to  possess  valuable  curative  proper- 


162  THE    mSTOIlY   OF    PERU. 

ties.  For  a  more  particular  analysis  of  these  wa- 
ters, the  reader  is  referred  to  the  gentleman,  yet 
living  in  our  midst,  who  enjoyed  the  advantage  of 
listening  to  Doctor  Harrison's  learned  disquisi- 
tion, and  who  has  doubtless  treasured  much  of 
the  lore  dragged  to  light  on  the  memorable  occa- 
sion referred  to  in  the  preceding  pages. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 
977.327B39H  C001 

THE  HISTORY  OF  PERU.  PERU 


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